Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Denmark

This seminar explores how plant responses to environmental change scale up to influence ecosystem functioning, biodiversity patterns, and restoration outcomes across freshwater and riparian ecosystems. Drawing on research conducted across Mediterranean, temperate, and Arctic regions, the presentation will examine how hydrological change, nutrient enrichment, terrestrial inputs, and climate-driven stressors regulate vegetation dynamics, ecosystem metabolism, carbon cycling, nutrient dynamics, and interactions between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding the ecological mechanisms linking plant ecophysiology, vegetation responses, and ecosystem-scale processes through the integration of field studies, ecosystem measurements, mesocosm experiments, and controlled experimental approaches.

Finally, the seminar will discuss emerging research directions integrating eco-metabolomics and systems biology approaches to better understand plant responses to environmental stress and to develop early-warning indicators of ecosystem degradation and biodiversity decline under global environmental change.

She holds a BSc in Biology (2004) and a PhD in Biology (2012) from the Department of Biology, University of Patras, Greece, where her doctoral research focused on aquatic macrophytes and ecological assessment of Mediterranean stream ecosystems under the EU Water Framework Directive. She subsequently worked as Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Open University of Cyprus (2014–2016), focusing on landscape ecology, ecosystem services assessment, and freshwater ecology. Between 2017 and 2020, she was awarded an AIAS-COFUND Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship at Aarhus University, Denmark, where she investigated the effects of global environmental change on freshwater ecosystem functioning, plant ecophysiology, and functional trait ecology across Mediterranean, temperate and Arctic ecosystems. During the same period, she also served as University Lecturer at Aalborg University, Denmark, teaching Limnology and Freshwater ecology.

From 2020 to 2024, she held several senior research and teaching positions at the Open University of Cyprus, including the National Coordinator for Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystem Services (MAES), Freshwater Ecosystems Leader, contributing to the development of the national framework of ecosystem services assessments, biodiversity conservation, and environmental policy integration at the national level. In 2024–2025, she worked as Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Biology, Aarhus University, focusing on wetland restoration, freshwater ecology, and ecosystem functioning, before being appointed Assistant Professor at Aarhus University in 2025.

She has participated in more than 20 national and European research projects and international scientific collaborations and is author/co-author of more than 45 peer-reviewed scientific publications, as well as book chapters, technical reports, policy briefs, and popular science articles.

Website (Pure): Link , ResearchGate: Link, ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3958-0199,  ResearcherID: K-2342-2016, Scopus Author ID: 53264468300