Nikos Minadakis

Nikos Minadakis

Nikos Minadakis is a software engineer, semantic architect and large scale projects manager. He graduated from the Department of Computers Engineering and Informatics, University of Patras, and holds an MSc in Computer Science and Technology. He has expertise in e-research infrastructures design and development, conceptual modeling and semantic information systems implementation. He is a founding member of Advance Services, a deep tech enterprise and was a former technology supervisor and software engineer at the Foundation of Hellas and Technology (FORTH) from 2013 until 2019. He has participated in many National and European Projects, including PHAROS Artreseach, Lifewatch, iMarine, BlueBRIDGE and has co-authored more than 40 scientific publications.

 

Main publications:

1. N. Minadakis, Y. Marketakis, H. Kondylakis, G. Flouris, M. Theodoridou, M. Doerr, G. de Jong. “X3ML Framework: An Effective Suite for Supporting Data Mappings”. Workshop for Extending, Mapping and Focusing the CRM – co-located with TPDL’2015, Poznan, Poland, September 2015.

2. N. Minadakis, Y. Marketakis, C. Bekiari, M. Doerr, N. Bailly, A. Gougousis, S. Nikolopoulou, D. Mavraki, C. Arvanitidis. “LifeWatch Greece Data-Services: On Supporting Metadata and Semantics Integration for the Biodiversity Domain”. In 13th International Congress on the Zoogeography and Ecology of Greece and Adjacent Regions (ICZEGAR’2015), Heraklion, Crete, October 2015.

3. C. Arvanitidis, E. Chatzinikolaou, N. Bailly, E. Panteri, C. Bekiari, M. Doerr, N. Minadakis, Y. Marketakis, S. Faulwetter, K. Keklikoglou, D. Mavraki, S. Nikolopoulou, A. Oulas, E. Pafilis, N. Pattakos, C. Pavloudi, T. Patkos, K. Varsos, V. Gerovasileiou, T. Bourtzis, J. Lagnel, A. Gougousis (and 29 others). “LifeWatchGreece: Construction and operation of the national Research Infrastructure in the framework of the LifeWatch ESFRI”. In 13th International Congress on the Zoogeography and Ecology of Greece and Adjacent Regions (ICZEGAR’2015), Heraklion, Crete, October 2015.

Pierluigi Calasso

Pierluigi Calasso

Pierluigi Calasso is the Help Desk Technician of the LifeWatch ERIC 1st Level Help Desk.
He supports the users of the infrastructure through the management of requests coming from the LifeWatch ERIC Help Desk service, by directly replying to the inquiries or forwarding them to the appropriate person within the infrastructure.
He is an expert in customer care services, having worked as web tracking specialist advisor and quality analyst for international brands during his last work experiences.
Pierluigi has a web designer background and a great passion for everything concerning new technologies and the internet world.

Eftychia Tzafesta

Eftychia Tzafesta

Data Science Specialist
She holds a Master’s in Ichthyology and Aquatic Environmental Sciences from the University of Thessaly and a Ph.D. from the University of Salento, where she applied innovative molecular techniques to assess biodiversity in aquatic ecosystems. Her research integrated fieldwork, laboratory analyses and data-driven approaches to explore traditional and molecular tools for understanding biodiversity changes and supporting conservation efforts. Over the years she has published several scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals and actively contributed to conferences, seminars and workshops.
She currently works as a data scientist, specializing in developing policies and strategies for the collection, organization, storage, and accessibility of (meta)data, with a strong emphasis on harmonization, interoperability challenges, and FAIR data management. She is involved in various European projects that focus on the entire data lifecycle within environmental research.

Cosimo Vallo

Cosimo Vallo

Training Officer, LifeWatch ERIC
Graduated in Political Sciences – International Relations, and holding an M.Phil. in Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Cosimo has over teen years of professional experience in the fields of training, capacity building and mediation, at international level, both in Europe and beyond. Since 2010, Cosimo worked for European NGOs, for universities, such as the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, and for the United Nations, both in headquarters and in the field. Cosimo joined LifeWatch ERIC in 2021, and has been ever since coordinating the LifeWatch ERIC training and capacity building efforts. He has been
involved in a number of European and national projects related to biodiversity and ecosystem research, leading the training tasks concerning the design, development and implementation of training strategies and activities.

Lucia Vaira

Lucia Vaira

Service Centre ICT Coordinator

Computer engineer, with a PhD in Information Engineering at the University of Salento, Lucia Vaira is the Service Centre ICT Coordinator at LifeWatch ERIC. She has collaborated for several years with the Database and Information Systems research group of the Department of Engineering for Innovation, University of Salento, Italy, where she worked on medical informatics, database modelling, data warehouses, and all aspects related to the main issues existing when dealing with data (security, quality, incompleteness, inconsistency, integrity, uncertainty, etc.). She is co-author of more than 30 publications and her research interests and activities include the definition of policies, procedures, models and technologies to be used in collecting, organising, storing and accessing (meta)data with particular attention to the harmonisation and interoperability challenges and the FAIR data management.

Main publications

S. Islam, D. Papale, L. Vaira, I. Rosati, J. Peterseil, C. Pichot. (2024) Navigating taxonomic complexity: A
use-case report on FAIR scientific name-matching service usage in ENVRI Research Infrastructures. Research Ideas and Outcomes 10: e121871. https://doi.org/10.3897/rio.10.e121871

Di Muri C., Arvanitidis C., Basset A., De Giorgi R., Rosati I., Vaira L. and Mancinelli G. (2023) The validation case on invasive crustaceans of the LifeWatch ERIC Internal Joint Initiative: State of the art and next steps forward. Front. Environ. Sci. 10:1038635. doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2022.1038635

Kechagioglou X., Vaira L., Tomassino P., Fiore N., Basset A., Rosati I. (2022) EcoPortal: An Environment for FAIR Semantic Resources in the Ecological Domain. S4BioDiv 2021: 3rd International Workshop on Semantics for Biodiversity, held at JOWO 2021: Episode VII The Bolzano Summer of Knowledge, September 11-18, 2021, Bolzano, Italy. https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2969/paper6-s4biodiv.pdf

Ant Türkmen

Ant Türkmen

Scientific Networking Officer

Marine scientist specialising in ocean governance, environmental sustainability, and stakeholder engagement. With a Ph.D. in marine science, he has contributed to international projects on marine biodiversity, blue economy, and spatial planning. He is a lead author for the IPBES Nexus Assessment and an active member of global scientific bodies, including IUCN, IOC-UNESCO and UN-DOALOS.

Madeira Scauri

Madeira Scauri

Madeira Scauri holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures, with a focus on Press and Cultural Journalism, from the Università degli Studi di Napoli “L’Orientale.”

With extensive experience in communication, dissemination, and outreach, Madeira previously served as the EU Project Communication, Dissemination & Outreach Manager at ENCO Engineering and Consulting. In this role, she was the Communication and Dissemination leader for projects such as MERLIN, BioSupPack, and CISUFLO, organised major EU events, and collaborated with stakeholders across various sectors. She also contributed to the European Commission’s Digital Innovation Lab at DG DIGIT, focusing on co-creation, content development, and stakeholder engagement.

Madeira is an experienced EU Project Communication Officer at LifeWatch ERIC, where she is the Communication and Dissemination leader of RESTORE4Cs and task leader of MARBEFES. She is also involved in the communication and dissemination efforts for several other Horizon EU projects, including FAIR IMPACT, ANERIS, DTO-BioFlow, DOORS, etc. Her responsibilities include content creation, social media management, and coordinating high-profile events.

Eleonora Parisi

Eleonora Parisi

EU project Training Officer, LifeWatch ERIC

Graduated in Communication and Media Studies in 2017 at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Eleonora has been working as digital project officer in membership-based organisations supporting the professional development of researchers, scholars, and school education staff across Europe. Between 2019 and 2022 at European Schoolnet she coordinated the production of monthly webinar and massive open online course (MOOCs) series, while also acting as product owner for complex learning management systems. Eleonora joined LifeWatch ERIC in 2022, where she puts into practice her expertise in continuous and digital learning by designing training strategies in Horizon Europe projects, strengthening capacities in ecosystems and biodiversity management, Earth and ocean monitoring, open science, and research software engineering.