Born in Barcelona, Joan is a Catalan biologist whose main research interest is the conservation of the marine environment and, more specifically, the study and conservation of cetaceans.
born in Venice, Italy, Giuseppe has been concerned for over 40 years with the advancement of knowledge of the natural history, ecology, behaviour, taxonomy and conservation of aquatic vertebrates, with an emphasis on whales, dolphins, seals, sharks and manta rays.
Nino Pierantonio is an associated researcher of Tethys Research Institute, where he has been a Member of the Board of Directors between 2013 and 2016.
Coming from Granada (Spain), Carmen has always been captivated by all marine living forms, especially marine mammals.
Back in 1993, with very little more than her enthusiasm and eagerness to study the dolphins inhabiting the beautiful waters of the eastern Ionian Sea, Elena established our first field base in the island of Kalamos and founded the Ionian Dolphin Project.
” She is the person who gave me the opportunity to come to Greece for the first time in 1999, when I was an unexperienced recently graduated student, to get a taste of the Dolphins of Greece experience; more than a decade later I still feel inspired by her passion for the marine environment, her never-ending energy and continuous advice and support. Thank you Elena!
joAn – IDP Project Manager and Science coordinator “
Giovanni Bearzi (born in Venice, Italy, in 1963) holds a Ph.D. in zoology from the University of Basel, Switzerland. He has been carrying out and coordinating dolphin research projects since 1986, particularly in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. He founded and directed for a decade a dolphin research and conservation programme in Croatia, which was awarded the ‘Henry Ford European Conservation Award’ as best European project. Board Member (1990—2010) and President (2000—2010) of the Tethys Research Institute. Contract Professor of Cetacean Conservation (2002—2006) at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Venice, Italy. Research associate, Marine Mammal Behavioral Ecology Group, Texas A&M University (since 2011). Visiting senior scientist at the Institute of Marine Life Sciences, Texas A&M University (2011—2012). In 2001 he was awarded a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship. Giovanni does field research on dolphins, particularly in poorly-known Mediterranean areas. His studies aim to inform management action through a description of problems faced by the animals, ideally also explaining how such problems could be solved.
Alexandros (born in Athens, Greece, in 1964) holds a Ph.D. in Biological Oceanography from the University of Aix-Marseille II, France. He has been carrying out and coordinating dolphin research projects since 1995 in the Greek Seas, and he is the founder of the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute. He founded and still directs the long-term research programs on the sperm whales of the Greek Seas and the mixed-species dolphin societies of the Korinthian Gulf.
His contribution to the Ionian Dolphin Project was key in the early years of the project for the establishment of our first field base in the Island of Kalamos and the designation of the Inner Ionian Sea Archipelago as a Natura 2000 area site. Nowadays, Alexandros and the rest of our friends from the Pelagos Cetacean Research Institute continue to provide valuable support and advice to the IDP
A large number of research assistants and collaborators joined the Ionian Dolphin Project in the past. Check on the IDP web site their names.
