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George Zalidis graduated from the Agronomy Department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with doctoral studies at the Department of Soil Science and postdoctoral studies in Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering Department at the State University of Michigan US.

Today, he is the  Director of the Laboratory of Remote Sensing, Spectroscopy and Geographical Information Systems, and member of the Laboratory of Applied Soil Sciences at the Department of Agriculture of the School of Agriculture, Forestry and Natural Resources of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He is also the  Scientific Coordinator of Interbalkan Environment Center (i-BEC) since 2007.

His research focuses on issues of quality and restoration of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, the use of Earth observation data (space and terrestrial) in the  Societal Benefit Areas, the OECD indicators of sustainable development and the use of spectral data in the monitoring of agricultural ecosystems and natural terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

CURRENT POSITION

• Professor of Pollution and Soil Degradation, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture, Department of Land Reclamation Soil Science and Agricultural Engineering, Laboratory of Applied Soil Science.
• Director of the Laboratory of Remote Sensing, Spectroscopy and G.I.S., Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture.
• Member of the Laboratory of Applied Soil Science. Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Agriculture.
• Scientific Director, Interbalkan Environment Center (I-BEC)
• Member, Hellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency (HQA) Council
• Representative of the Hellenic Republic, Ministry of Rural Development and Food at the international Group on Earth Observations Global Agricultural Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) of GEO.

George Pontikas is President and CEO at Syngenta Hellas Single Member SACI. He began his career in 1990 at Ciba Geigy Hellas (Legacy company of Syngenta), as Seed Development Manager. In 1997 he became Director of the Seed Division and in 2011 Head of Sales of the company’s consolidated business and Managing Director since 2015.

In January 2020 along with the position of Head of Sales for Crop Protection Products he assumes the duties of President and Managing Director at Syngenta Hellas Single Member SACI as well as the position of Business Area Manager for the countries Greece, Israel/Palestine, Cyprus, Albania and Kosovo (BA Mediterranean).

He is President of the Hellenic Crop Protection Association (ESYF). He was President of the Greek Seed Trade Association (SEPY) from 2010 to 2016 and member of the Board of the International Seed Federation (ISF) from 2010 to 2013.

George Pontikas is agronomist with a master degree in rural economy, marketing & sociology, and a master degree in Business Administration (MBA).

Frantzeska Ydraiou is an Agronomist Msc., holder of Maitrise Special title in Phytopharmacology and Phytomedicine. She worked both as a public servant (Ministry of Agriculture in Greece) and for the private sector (industry of plant protection products) before becoming the Director General of the HCPA in 1997. During this period, she has dealt with matters of National and European legislation concerning plant protection products sector and sustainable agriculture as well as with the implementation of programs for the protection of PPP users and water, the collection of empty PPP containers, raising awareness on risks of illegal pesticides, in cooperation with municipalities, institutes, services and farmers. She has attended numerous seminars, conferences and workshops primarily as speaker as has also lectured at the Agricultural University of Athens, the University of Aegean and the Medical School of Athens. She is also an external member of the Council of Administration of Agricultural University of Athens.

Tsimpoukas Konstantinos is Professor of the Laboratory of Agribusiness Management, Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development in the Agricultural University of Athens. He is a graduate from the Agricultural University of Athens and has a M.Sc. from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Montpellier , D.E.A. and a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics  of Montpellier III University, France.

He teaches Rural Economy & Policy, Introduction in Agricultural Economics, Farm Management and Economics of Animal Production at undergraduate level and Economics of Animal Production and Farm Management at postgraduate level. His research interests focus in techno-economic analysis of agricultural production systems and in decisions making at farm level. He participates in research projects (national and EU funded) as a coordinator and researcher in areas concerning economic analysis of agricultural production systems and economic viability at farm level.

Charalambos Kasimis is a Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development of the Agricultural University of Athens. In March 2015, he was appointed as Secretary General of Agricultural Policy and Management of European Funds of the Ministry of Rural Development and Food, in charge of CAP, Rural Development and Fisheries Development Programmes of Greece as well as International Relations. He completed his term in office in July 2019.

He has served as the Head of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (2013-2014) and as the Director of the Postgraduate Studies MSc. Programme “Integrated Rural Development and Management of Rural Space” (2010-2014). Between September 2014 and March 2015, he was appointed as Deputy Rector of the Agricultural University of Athens. In the period 1986-2003 he served as a member of staff at the Department of Economics of the University of Patras and between 1995 and 2000 as the Director of the Institute of Urban and Rural Sociology at the National Centre for Social Research. For a number of years, he served as a member of the Executive Committee of the European Society for Rural Sociology and between 2013 and 2015 as President.

His academic interests focus on issues of rural transformation and development in Greece, the Balkans and the Mediterranean region and more particularly on family farming, employment and rural community change. Migration and, more precisely, the implications of international migration on rural regions have become one of his main research topics in the past years. In the crisis years he dealt with the study of the implications of the economic crisis upon the rural areas and the ‘return to the land’ movement in Greece.

Since 2016 Charalampos Kasimis is Vice President and member of the Governing Board of the International Center for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM).

Between 2018 -2019 he served as Executive Board member of the Organisation “Enterprise Greece”.