Project Manager / Co-founder

Louis Hadjioannou

Dr. Louis Hadjioannou graduated with a BSc in Biological Sciences from the University of Brighton and a Masters degree in Advanced Methods in Taxonomy and Biodiversity from Imperial College London. His PhD in Biodiversity and Ecology from the University of Cyprus focused on the biology and ecophysiology of Cladocora caespitosa, one of the two endemic scleractinian corals of the Mediterranean, and how communities of this species respond to varying environmental changes on the island of Cyprus.

He specializes in marine biodiversity/ecology of Cyprus with expertise in the effects of marine protected areas, invasive species and artificial reefs on fisheries (and vice versa) and a special interest on the effects of natural and anthropogenic disturbances in priority habitats and vulnerable species. He co-founded the NGO Enalia Physis Environmental Research Centre in 2009, with the aim of conducting and promoting environmental research and encouraging/enhancing education and ecological awareness of the general public in Cyprus.

Based in Cyprus, since 2008, he has also worked in the private sector in projects dealing with environmental impact assessments and monitoring marine environments by analyzing benthic macrofaunal communities and by means of remote sensing techniques. He has been also involved in baseline surveys around the island of Cyprus with respect to identifying sites of high biodiversity and ecological value. Between 2011 and 2014 he was employed as a special scientist at the University of Cyprus and worked with behavioural ecology and ornithological research in Africa and Cyprus.

He has participated in research projects and conferences in Europe, Africa and South America and his broad interest in the natural processes and systematic biology has given him the opportunity to acquire extensive experience in field-work in both terrestrial and marine environments.

He is a warm supporter of the idea that by expanding ones knowledge to as broadly as possible, then a more holistic approach can be taken and applied to a better understanding of natural processes, conservation and managing of our natural resources.

A passionate amateur photographer/videographer who loves travelling, hiking and playing music.

Peer-reviewed publications  

  1. Giannakis, E., Hadjioannou, L., Jimenez, C., Papageorgiou, M., Karonias, A., Petrou, A. (2020). Economic consequences of Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Fisheries in the Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus). Sustainability. 12(22), 9406. Doi: 10.3390/su12229406.
  2. Snape, R.T.E., Cicek, B. A., Hadjioannou, L., Ozturk, A. A., Beton, D. (2020). Two sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) sightings in Cyprus from social media. Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment. Vol. 26, No. 2:238-248.
  3. Peyton, J., et al. (2020). Horizon scanning to predict and prioritise invasive alien species with the potential to threaten human health and economies in Cyprus. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution.  https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.566281
  4. Katsanevakis, S., et al. (accepted). Unpublished Mediterranean records of marine and cryptogenic species. Marine Bioinvasions. 9, 2: 165-182. doi: 10.3391/bir.2020.9.2.01.
  5. Savva, I., Chartosia, N., Antoniou, C., Kleitou, P., Georgiou, A., Stern, N., Hadjioannou, L., Jimenez, C., Andreou, V., Hall-Spencer, J.M., Kletou, D. (in press). They are here to stay: The biology and ecology of lionfish in the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Fish biology.
  6. D’Agostino, D., Jimenez, C., Reader, T., Hadjioannou, L., Heyworth, S., Aplikioti, M., Argyrou, M., Feary, D. A. (2020). Behavioural traits and feeding ecology of Mediterranean lionfish and naiveté of native species to lionfish predation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser. 638: 123–135. doi:10.3354/meps13256.
  7. Jimenez, C., Achilleos, K., Petrou, A., Hadjioannou, L., Guido, A., Rosso, A., Gerovasileiou, V., Albano, P. A., Di Franco, D., Andreou, V., Abu Alhaija, R. (2019). A dream within a dream: Kakoskali Cave, a unique marine ecosystem in Cyprus (Levantine Sea) In Öztürk B. (Ed.) 2019. Marine Caves of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Biodiversity, Threats and Conservation. Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV) Publication no: 53, Istanbul, Turkey http://tudav.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/TUDAV_marine_cave.pdf
  8. Hadjioannou, L., Jimenez, C., Rottier, C., Sfenthourakis, S., Ferrier-Pages, C. (2019). Divergent response of eutrophic and oligotrophic-acclimated populations of the temperate coral Cladocora caespitosa to warming. Scientific reports. 9:14229 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-50716-w
  9. Cabanellas-Reboredo, M., Vázquez-Luis, M., Mourre, B., Álvarez, E., Deudero, S., Amores, Á., Addis, P., Ballesteros, E., Barrajon, A., Coppa, S., Garcia-March, J. R., Giacobbe, S., Casalduero, F. G., Hadjioannou, L., Jimenez-Gutierrez, S. V., Katsanevakis, S., Kersting, D., Macic, V., Mavric, B., Patti, F. P., Planes, S., Prado, P., Sanchez, J., Tena-Medialdea, J., De Vaguelas, J., Vicente, N., Belkhamssa, F. Z., Zupan, I., Hendriks, I. E. (2019). Tracking a mass mortality outbreak of pen shell Pinna nobilis populations: A collaborative effort of scientists and citizens. Scientific Reports, 9(1), 13355. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-019-49808-4
  10. Kleitou, P., Savva, I., Kletou, D., Hall-Spencer, J. M., Antoniou, C., Christodoulides, Y., Chartosia, N., Hadjioannou, L., Dimitriou, A. C., Jimenez, C., Petrou, A., Sfenthourakis, S., Rees, S. 2019. Invasive lionfish in the Mediterranean: Low public awareness yet high stakeholder concerns. Marine Policy, 104: 66-74. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.052.
  11. Orejas, C., Jiménez, C., Gori, A., Rivera, J., Iacono, C. L., Aurelle, D., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Achilleos, K. (2019). Corals of Aphrodite: Dendrophyllia ramea Populations of Cyprus. In Orejas C, Jiménez C (eds.), Mediterranean Cold-Water Corals: Past, Present and Future, Coral Reefs of the World 9, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91608-8_12 pp. 257-260.
  12. Georgiou, A., Jimenez, C., Hadjioannou, L. (2019). Accuracy of remote sensing-derived SST values compared with in-situ measurements in Eastern Mediterranean (Cyprus). 7th Int Conf Remote Sensing and Geoinformation of the Environment (RSCy2019), Paphos, Cyprus. 11174:1-10.  https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2533603
  13. Kleitou, P., Savva, I., Kletou, D., Hall-Spencer, J. M., Antoniou, C., Christodoulides, Y., Chartosia, N., Hadjioannou, L., Dimitriou, A. C., Jimenez, C., Petrou, A., Sfenthourakis, S., Rees, S. 2019. Invasive lionfish in the Mediterranean: Low public awareness yet high stakeholder concerns. Marine Policy, 104: 66-74. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpol.2019.02.052
  14. Jimenez C, Patsalou P., Andreou V., Huseyinoglu M.F., Çiçek B.A., Hadjioannou L., Petrou A., 2019. Out of sight, out of reach, out of mind- Invasive lionfish Pterois miles in Cyprus at depths beyond recreational diving limits. Proceedings of 1st Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species, Antalya, Turkey, 17-18 January 2019. pp 59-64.
  15. Jimenez, C., Çiçek, B.A., Jimenez, J.U., Hadjioannou, L. and Huseyinoglu, M.F., 2018. What is the roar about? Lionfish targeted removals in Costa Rica (Central America) and Cyprus (Mediterranean Sea). Lionfish Invasion and Its Management in the Mediterranean Sea. Turkish Marine Research Foundation (TUDAV), pp.34-45.
  16. Stern, N., Jimenez, C., Huseyinoglou, M. F., Andreou, V., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Öztürk, B., Golani, D. and Rothman, S.B., 2018. Constructing the genetic population demography of the invasive lionfish Pterois miles in the Levant Basin, Eastern Mediterranean. Mitochondrial DNA Part A, pp.1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701394.2018.1482284.
  17. Nwankwo, E. C., Pallari, C. Th., Hadjioannou, L., Ioannou, A., Mulwa, R. K., Kirschel, A. N. G., (2017). Rapid song divergence leads to discordance between genetic distance and phenotypic characters important in reproductive isolation. Ecology and Evolution. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3673.
  18. Jimenez, C., Andreou, V., Evriviadou, M., Britta, M., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Abu Alhaija, R. (2017). Epibenthic Communities Associated with Unintentional Artificial Reefs (Modern Shipwrecks) Under Contrasting Regimes of nutrients in the Levantine Sea (Cyprus and Lebanon). PLoS ONE.12(8): e0182486. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0182486.
  19. Orejas, C., Gori, A., Jimenez, L., Rivera, J., Lo Iacono, C., Hadjioannou, L., Andreou, V., Petrou, A. (2017). First in situ documentation of a population of the coral Dendrophyllia rameaoff Cyprus (Levantine Sea) and evidence of human impacts. Galaxea Journal of Coral Reef Studies. 19(1):15-16. DOI: 10.3755/galaxea.19.1_15.
  20. ARTICLE A (2017). V. Gerovasileiou et al.: New Mediterranean Biodiversity Records (July, 2017). Mediterranean Marine Science, 18, 355-384.
  21. Guido, A., Jimenez, C., Achilleos, K., Rosso, A., Sanfilippo, R., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Russo, F., Mastandrea A. (2017). Cryptic serpulid-microbialite bioconstructions in the Kakoskali submarine cave (Cyprus, Eastern Mediterranean). Facies, 63:21.
  22. Jimenez, C., Andreou, V., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Abu Alhaija, R., Patsalou, P. (2017). Not everyone’s cup of tea: Public perception of culling invasive lionfish in Cyprus (Levantine Sea). Workshop on the Lionfish in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: New problems, new solutions: Distribution, Eradication & Utilization. J. Black Sea/Mediterranean Environment. Vol. 23, No.1 1:38-47.
  23. Jimenez, C., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Andreou, V., Georgiou, A. (2017). Fouling communities of two accidental artificial reefs (modern shipwrecks) in Cyprus (Levantine Sea). Water. 9(11). DOI: 10.3390/w9010011.
  24. Gubbay, S. et al. (2016). European Red List of Habitats. Part 1. Marine Habitats. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
  25. Clark, C., Kirschel, A., Hadjioannou, L.,Prum, R. (2016). Smithornis broadbills produce loud wing song by aeroelastic flutter of inner primary wing feathers. J. Exp. Biol. 219, 1069-1075 doi:10.1242/jeb.131664.
  26. Jensen, J.H., Saremi, S., Jimenez, C., Hadjioannou, L. (2015). Merits of partial shielding in dumping sediment spoils. Mar Pollut Bull. 15;101(1):61-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.11.023.
  27. Jensen, J.H., Saremi, S., Jimenez, C., Hadjioannou, L. (2015). Field experimental observations of highly graded sediment plumes. Mar Pollut Bull. 5;95(1):72-80. DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.04.041.
  28. Jimenez, C., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Nikolaidis, A., Evriviadou, M., Lange, M. A. (2016). Mortality of coralligenous organisms associated to seawater temperature anomalies in the Levantine Sea (Cyprus). Regional Environmental Change. DOI 10.1007/s10113-014-0729-2.
  29. Jiménez, C., Petrou, A., Ivan, C., Marija, D., Evriviadou, M., Hadjioannou, L., Lange, M. A. (2013). Coral mass mortality associated to seawater temperature anomalies in the Levantine (Cyprus) and Adriatic (Croatia) Seas. Rapp Comm int Mer Médit 40: 655.

Conference participation      

  1. Hadjioannou, L., Jimenez, C., Hartingerova, J., Andreou, V., Petrou, A., Hayes, D. 2019. Cladocora caespitosa in a rapidly changing environment: effects from eutrophication, windstorm and warming event. 54th European Marine Biodiversity Symposium.
  2. Jimenez, C., Patsalou, P., Andreou, V., Huseyinoglu, M.F., Çiçek, B.A., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A. 2019. Out of sight, out of reach, out of mind: Invasive lionfish Pterois miles in Cyprus at depths beyond recreational diving limits. 1st Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species. Antalya, Turkey, 17-18 January.
  3. Kleitou, P., Hall-Spencer, J., Rees, S., Sfendourakis, S., Demetriou, A., Chartosia, N., Jimenez, C., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Christodoulides, Y., Georgiou, A., Andreou, V., Anoniou, C., Savva, I., Kleitou, D. 2019. Tackling the lionfish invasion in the Mediterranean. The EU – Life Relionmed Project: Progress and Results. 1st Mediterranean Symposium on the Non-Indigenous Species. Antalya, Turkey, 17-18 January.
  4. Jimenez, C., Andreou, Vasilis., Huseyinoglu, F., Hadjioannou, L., Patsalou, P., Petrou, A., 2018. Of natural predation and gastronomy: Who’s eating the invasive lionfish (Pterois miles) in Cyprus (Levantine Sea). In Mees, J., Seys, J., (eds.), Book of abstracts – 53rd European Marine Biology Symposium. Oostende, Belgium, 17-21 September 2018. VLIZ Special Publication, 82. Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee – Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ): Oostende. pp. 199.
  5. Hadjioannou, L. Jimenez, C., Rottier, C., Ferrier-Pages, C., (2017). Eutrophication effects on the physiology of the temperate scleractinian coral Cladocora caespitosa. European Coral Reef Symposium, Oxford, U.K. 13th-15thDecember, 2017.
  6. Jimenez, C., Andreou, V., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A., Abu Alhaija, R., Patsalou, P. (2017). Not everyone’s cup of tea: Public perception of culling invasive lionfish in Cyprus (Levantine Sea). Workshop on the Lionfish in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea: New problems, new solutions: Distribution, Eradication & Utilization. Antalya, Turkey, 9th-10thFebruary.   
  7. Hadjioannou, L*., Jimenez, C., Hartingerova, J., Hayes, D. (2016). Cladocora caespitosa corals impacted by extreme windstorm generated swells in Cyprus.   41st CIESM congress, 12th-16th September 2016, Kiel, Germany. *Oral and Poster presenter.
  8. Jimenez, C., Petrou, A., Andreou, V., Hadjioannou, L., Wolf, W., Koutsoloukas, N., Abu Alhaija, R. (2016). Veni, Vidi, Vici: the successful establishment of the lionfish Pterois miles, in Cyprus (Levantine Sea). 41stCIESM congress, 12th-16th September 2016, Kiel, Germany. Oral and Poster presentation.
  9. Rivera, J., Lo Iacono, C., Sakellariou, D., Petrou, A., Hadjioannou, L., Jimenez, C., Orejas, C., Team CYCLAMEN. (2016). Morphological description of the southeastern Cyprus outer shelf and slope regions (eastern Mediterranean). 41stCIESM congress, 12th-16th September 2016, Kiel, Germany. Oral and Poster presentation.
  10. Orejas, C., Gori, A., Jimenez, C., Rivera, J., Lo Iacono, J., Kamidis, N., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A. (2016). Cold-water corals from the Levantine Mediterranean Sea: describing and quantifying a singular Dendrophyllia ramea population. 6thInternational Symposium Deep Sea Corals. 11th-16th September 2016, Boston, MA, USA. Poster presentantion.
  11. Orejas, C., Jimenez, C., Abu Alhaija, R., Achilleos, K., Avgousti, A., Aurelle, D., Ferrier-Pages, C., Gori, A., Hadjioannou, L., Kamidis, N., Lo Iacono, C., Petrou, A., Reynaud, S., Rivera, J., Rottier, C., Sakellariou, D. (2015). The Deep-water corals of Cyprus: Environmental settings and ecological features (CYprus Cold-corals Levantine SeA, Eastern MEditerraneaN: CYCLAMEN). 14thDeep-Sea Biology Symposium, Aveiro, Portugal, 31 Aug – 4 Sept. Poster presentation.  
  12. Hadjioannou, L*., Jimenez, C., Cvitkovic, I., Despalatovic, M., Evriviadou, M., Andreou, V. (2015). Cladocora caespitosa, a Mediterranean coral under threat? Wake-up call from recent mass mortality events. 2015 ASLO Aquatic Sciences Meeting, 22-27 February, Granada, Spain. *Oral presenter.
  13. Clark, C., Kirschel, A., Hadjioannou, L., Prum, R. (2015). Cryptic flutter produces klaxon-like song in Smithornis broadbills. Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology, 2015 Annual Meeting, West Palm Beach, Florida. Oral presentation.
  14. Clark, C., Kirschel, A., Hadjioannou, L., Prum, R. (2014). Cryptic flutter produces klaxon-like song in Smithornis broadbills. 26thInternational Ornithological Congress, August 2014, Tokyo, Japan. Poster presentation.
  15. Jiménez, C., Petrou, A., Ivan, C., Marija, D., Evriviadou, M., Hadjioannou, L., Lange, M. A. (2013). Coral mass mortality associated to seawater temperature anomalies in the Levantine (Cyprus) and Adriatic (Croatia) Seas. 40thCIESM congress, 28th October – 1st November, Marseille, France. Oral and poster presentantion.
  16. Jiménez, C., Petrou, A., Evrivadou, M., Nikolaides, A., Hadjioannou, L., Lange, M. A. (2013). Coral mass mortality associated to the Summer 2012 seawater temperature anomalies in the Levantine Sea (Cyprus). Geophys Res Abs 50: 8021.
  17. Jimenez, C., Petrou, A., Evriviadou, M., Nikolaidis, A., Hadjioannou, L., Britta, M., Lange, M. A. (2013). Benthic marine communities associated to “artificial reefs” (modern shipwrecks) under contrasting regimes of nutrients and pollution in the Levantine Sea (Cyprus and Lebanon). The 10thInternational Conference on Artificial Reefs and Related Aquatic Habitats. Oral presentation.
  18. Petrou. A., Jimenez, C., Hadjioannou, L.,Papadopoulou, A., Demesticha. S. (2013). Anthropogenic impacts and responses of organisms to artificial reef disturbance. The 10th International Conference on Artificial Reefs and Related Aquatic Habitats. Oral presentation.
  19. Sotiris Orfanidis, Tania Tsioli, Konstantinia Nakou, Apostolos Papadimitriou , Konstantinos Tsiamis, Vasilis Papathanasiou, Louis Hadjioannou, Antonis Petrou, Petros Stavrou, Marilena Aplikioti. (2013). Development of a macroalgae assessment tool to evaluate conservation status (MATECS) of the habitat type 1170 structures and functions of Cyprus coasts. Proceedings of 15thPanhellenic congress of Oceanography and Fisheries. Oral presentation.
  20. Kirschel, N. G., *Hadjioannou, L.,Seal, N., Grether, F. G. (2012). Patterns of phenotypic variation and range overlap in African savanna Tinkerbirds. 13th Pan-African Ornithological Congress, 14th-21st October, Arusha, Tanzania. *Oral presenter.
  21. Jimenez, C., Petrou, A., Hayes, D., Gucel, S., Hadjioannou, L. (2011). The neglected coral necklace of Aphrodite: Shallow and deep-water corals of Cyprus. HERMIONE 1st Annual Meeting 11–15 April 2011, Estepona, Malaga, Spain. Poster presentation
  22. Jimenez, C., Petrou, A., Hayes, D., Gucel, S., Hadjioannou, L. (2010). Shallow water corals of Cyprus (eastern Mediterranean). Euro ISRS Symposium 2010: Reefs in a changing environment, 13-17 December 2010 – Wageningen. Poster presentation.
  23. Petrou, A., Charilaou, C.,*Hadjioannou, L., Kallianiotis, A. (2010). Analysis of demersal species assemblages from the experimental trawl survey around the coast of Cyprus. TOP Biodiversity 2010, Threats, Opportunities and Paces for Biodiversity. 1stInternational Bi-communal conference on Biodiversity. Intercollege-Larnaca and Friends of Nature Cyprus. 3rd-4th June 2010. *Oral presenter. Published in proceedings.
  24. Chrysanthou, K., Hadjioannou, L., Petrou, A. (2010). Benthic macrofauna biodiversity impacts due to Fish farming. TOP Biodiversity 2010, Threats, Opportunities and Paces for Biodiversity. 1st International Bi-communal conference on Biodiversity. Intercollege-Larnaca and Friends of Nature Cyprus. 3rd-4th June 2010. Oral Presentation. Published in proceedings.