Paraskevi Polymenakou

Curriculum Vitae

Submitted by Paraskevi Polym... on Fri, 2011-04-08 11:34

Personal Information

Last name:

Polymenakou

First name:

Paraskevi (Voula)

Phone:

+30 2810 337855

e-mail:

polymen@hcmr.gr

Function at IMBG:

Researcher with open contract

Expertise / Research Interests

Mikrobiokosmos (www.mikrobiokosmos.org)
Microbial diversity and ecosystem functioning
Molecular microbial ecology
Life in Extreme Environments - Marine Biotechnology
Deep-sea Technologies
Biodegradation of organic pollutants
Aerobiology: climate change and health

Languages


Greek	native language
English	excellent

Education and Training


2005	Ph.D. Thesis in Environmental Organic Chemistry and Marine Microbiology, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Greece Subject: “Environmental control on microbial community composition in different sediments from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: evaluation of the associated molecular markers” Supervisor: Prof. E.G. Stephanou
2000	Master Thesis in Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Greece Subject: “Kinetics of phenol degradation using a new soil bacterium isolate” Supervisor: Prof. E.G. Stephanou
1998	Bachelor of Science in Biology, University of Crete, Greece Diploma subject: “Construction of a chimeric purine transporter in Aspergillus nidulans” Supervisors: Prof. N.J. Panopoulos, Dr. G. Diallinas

Specific Training


2011	Participation at the 2011 JGI User Meeting, Training on IMG/M a data menagement and analysis system for metagenomes, Walnut Creek, California USA
2003	Research visitor at Department of Ecology and Evolution, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden (bacterial community composition and diversity in Mediterranean sediments: under the supervision of Dr. S. Bertilsson)
2002	Participation in intensive courses of American Chemical Society “How to develop, validate and troubleshoot GC methods” sponsored by Agilent Technologies
1999	Participation in the “Endangered European Environment Master Program”, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden

Professional Activities


Oct 2007–to date	Hellenic Centre for Marine Research – Crete (H.C.M.R.), Institute of Marine Biology and Genetics: Research Scientist
September 2011	Participation on Nautilus Live 2011 Expedition: Sampling in Santorini and Kolumbo volcanoes
September 2010	Participation on SORCERER II GLOBAL OCEAN SAMPLING EXPEDITION (C. VENTER INSTITUTE). http://blogs.jcvi.org/2010/10/second-leg-of-greek-sampling/
spring 2007–to date	Teaching “Environmental Microbiology”, MSc: Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Greece
2003-Oct 2007	Hellenic Centre for Marine Research – Crete (H.C.M.R.), Institute of Oceanography: Research Scientist
2001-to date	Participation on oceanographic cruises within the framework of several EU projects: INTERPOL, ADIOS, CYCLOPS, BIODEEP, ANREC, HERMES, REDECO, HERMIONE (Hellenic Centre for Marine Research), CYBO (Department of Oceanography, University of Cyprus).
2001-2003	Institute of Marine Biology of Crete: Research Scientist
2000-2001	Research assistant at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas, Heraklion, Crete in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Greece
1999-2000	Research assistant at the Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Greece
1998	Research assistant at the Laboratory of Biotechnology and Applied Biology, Department of Biology, University of Crete, Greece

International Recognition of Scientific Work

Citations (excluding self-citations):

234

Self-citations:

h-index:

Impact Factor:

90.871

Editor in Scientific Journals and Publications


Guest Editor of the Special Issue “Health Effects of Air Pollution” of the Journal “Atmosphere”. Open Call for abstract submission in the website http://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/special_issues/health_effects/

Reviewer in international Journals

Marine Pollution Bulletin

International Journal of Environment and Waste Management

Marine Biology

Biodegradation

Bioremediation Journal

Microbial Ecology

ISME Journal

Saline Systems

Canadian Journal of Microbiology

Research in Microbiology

Marine Ecology Progress Series

Environmental Health Perspectives

Continental Shelf Research

Aquatic Microbial Ecology

International Journal of Environmental Health Research

Marine Environmental Research

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology

Biofouling

International Microbiology

Deep Sea Research Part I

Atmosphere (guest editor)

Invited Presentations


The unique bacterial diversity of the Eastern Mediterranean deep-sea oxic sediments, Polymenakou, P. N., Lampadariou N., Mandalakis M., and Tselepides A. , EMBO Workshop: Microbial diversity and metagenomics: science, technology, applications and regulatory affairs, 21-24 June, (2008)


Deep-Sea Microbial diversity and ecosystems: The uniqueness of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Polymenakou, P. N. , Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cyprus: invited lecture, 24 October, (2008)


Bacterial pathogens transported with Saharan dust fine particles, Polymenakou, P. N., and Mandalakis M. , Working Group on Outdoor Airborne Pathogens and Human Health, Department of Civil, Environmental & Geomatic Engineering, University College London, UK, 6-7 November, (2008)


Exploring the deep sea microbial communities of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea, Polymenakou, P. N. , MicrobeGr-Workshop: Molecular approaches to unravel the hidden microbial work, University of Ioannina, Agrinio, Greece, 15-17 October, (2009)

Scholarships / Awards


2008	EMBO poster prize at the workshop: EMBO Workshop: Microbial diversity and metagenomics: science, technology, applications and regulatory affairs, Porto Carras Resort, Chalkidiki, Greece

Teaching Activities

Undergraduate courses


2010, 2011, 2012	Lecturer for the lesson «Marine Biotechnology», Department of Biology, University of Crete

Postgraduate courses


2007-to date	“Environmental Microbiology”, MSc: Environmental Science and Engineering, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Greece

General teaching activities


2012	Supervisor of the MSc Thesis: Christos Christakis "Microbial diversity of the Kolumbo volcanic gas chimneys" University of Athens, Greece
2007	Supervisor of the MSc Thesis: Ioanna Kouridaki "Study of microbial community composition in the deep-sea sediments of the Pacific Ocean" Department of Chemistry, University of Crete
2005-2006	Supervisor of the MSc Thesis: Glykeria Fragkioudaki "Bacterial and organic matter distribution in the sediments of the Thracian Sea", Department of Biology, University of Crete
2004	Supervisor of the MSc Lab Exercise (Rotation): Glykeria Fragkioudaki "Organic matter distribution in the sediments of the Thracian Sea", Department of Biology, University of Crete
2002	Supervisor of the MSc Lab Exercise (Rotation): Katerina Made "Sediment type analyses and use of High Performance Liquid Chromatography, HPLC", Department of Biology, University of Crete

Research Activities

Research and Funding ID

Total funding from projects (either as coordinator or as scientific responsible) ( in €):

232290

Organization of Workshops and Symposia


December	2009	• Organizing the 2nd meeting of the European Research Project isoSoil (EU-FP7-212781) that was held in in Heraklion, Crete, Greece (Lato Hotel)	Organizer
September	2008	1st National Conference of “Microbiokosmos: our unexplored national wealth”	Member of the organizing committee

Membership of Advisory and Research Bodies


2012	International Society for Microbial Ecology
2011-2012	Member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Mikrobiokosmos Society
2009-2012	Member of the steering committee of the European Research Project isoSoil (EU-FP7-212781)

Participation in National Committees, Conferences, Workshops


May	2010	3rd National Mikrobiokosmos Conference	Noesis, Thessaloniki, Greece
June	2009	2nd National Mikrobiokosmos Conference	Caravel Hotel, Athens, Greece
December	2008	1st National Mikrobiokosmos Conference	Demokritos Athens, Greece
December	2006	8th Pan-Hellenic Symposium of Oceanography & Fisheries	Thessaloniki, Greece
December	2003	7th Symposium of Oceanography & Fisheries	Hersonissos, Crete, Greece

Participation in International Committees, Conferences, Workshops


March	2012	The Deep-Sea and Sub-Seafloor Frontiers Conference	Barcelona, Spain
September	2011	William Smith Meeting 2011, Remote Sensing of Volcanoes & Volcanic Processes: integrating observation & modelling	The Geological Society, Burlington House, London
June	2011	6th Annual DOE JGI User Meeting "Genomics of Energy and Environment"	Walnut Creek, California, USA
June	2009	MicrobeGr-Workshop: Molecular approaches to unravel the hidden microbial work	University of Ioannina, Agrinio, Greece
July	2008	2nd Euro-Mediterranean Symposium	Hotel Hilton, Portorosa-Furnari, Messina, Italy
April	2008	Working Group on Outdoor Airborne Pathogens and Human Health	University College London, UK
August	2008	EMBO Workshop: Microbial diversity and metagenomics: science, technology, applications and regulatory affairs	Porto Carras Resort, Chalkidiki, Greece
June	2007	38th CIESM Congress	Istanbul, Turkey
December	2007	13th International Meiofauna Conference (THIRIMCO)	Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
November	2006	11th Deep-Sea Biology Symposium	Southampton, UK
October	2005	American Society for Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Summer Meeting 2005	Santiago de Compostela, Spain
March	2004	37th CIESM Congress	Barcelona, Spain
	2003	International Symposium ‘Chemistry & Biology of Marine Organisms’	Kolympari, Crete, Greece
March	1998	16th SMYTE, Small Meeting on Yeast Transport and Energetics	Costa-Papiernicka, Slovakia

Other Activities

2012: Expert Reviewer for the European Research Council, Brussels

2011-2012: Hellenic National Initiative of Mikrobiokosmos: Member of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Mikrobiokosmos Society (Chairman: Prof. Zacharias Scouras)

2009-2010: Hellenic National Initiative of Mikrobiokosmos: Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Hellenic Mikrobiokosmos Society (Chairman: Dr. Nikos Kyrpides)

Report on Media: The results of the research article “Particle size distribution of airborne microorganisms and pathogens during an intense African dust event in the Eastern Mediterranean”, which was published in “Environmental Health Perspectives” attracted the interest of the national media (TO VIMA: VIMA SCIENCE “Do not sing in the dust rain” by Dr. Ioanna Soufleri: http://www.tovima.gr/science/article/?aid=187488).

Report on Media: A resume of the same article entitled “Desert storms send pathogens abroad” was also released by the Emerging Health Threats Forum (UK’s Health Protection Agency) (http://www.fghp.org/templates/nams/fghp/news/news.html?fileId=news071214081502&date=14th%20%20December%202007&from=home&id=0)

Report on Media: New Scientist: «Microbes’ globe-trotting has made them less diverse» by Linda Geddes (November 2009) (http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20427324.100-microbes-globetrotting-has-made-them-less-diverse.html)

History

Member for: 13 years 26 weeks