In Conversation with George Georgiou, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Environmental Predictions Department (EPD) of CARE-C
Hello George, to start off our conversation can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?
I have a bachelor’s degree in Physics and a master’s degree in Environmental Physics from the National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. Recently, I got my PhD in Energy, Environment and Atmospheric Sciences from the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center (CARE-C) of the Cyprus Institute. My research interests revolve around air quality, focusing on regional air quality modelling. Poor air quality is perceived as the main environmental concern for EU citizens and air quality models can serve as a powerful tool to assess air pollution and understand its drivers, especially in a region with very high background concentrations of air pollutants, such as the Eastern Mediterranean.
Congratulations again on receiving your PhD. Can you tell us a bit about the focus of your PhD thesis and how do you plan to develop your research interests after receiving your doctorate?
During my PhD studies I used a regional air quality model in order to model air quality over Cyprus. I examined the ability of various gas-phase chemistry and aerosol mechanisms to simulate the concentrations of atmospheric pollutants over Cyprus and implemented a high-resolution anthropogenic emission inventory in order to further improve the model performance. The findings and the model configuration used in my PhD thesis will be used to set-up an operational system for daily air quality forecasts over Cyprus. In the future I also plan to work more extensively on dust modelling, since dust is one of the most important aspects of air quality in our region.
How was the experience of doing a PhD at The Cyprus Institute?
Doing my PhD at the The Cyprus Institute with the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center gave me the opportunity to meet and collaborate with distinguished scientists. In addition, the great support I had from the CARE-C people and the Office of Graduate Studies, as well as the High Performance Computing Facility of The Cyprus Institute, were catalytic factors in order to achieve my goal.
And now, you have joined CARE-C as a Postdocotral Research Fellow.
Yes, following my PhD Defence in July 2020, I got employed as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at CARE-C as a member of the Environmental Predictions Department. Currently I am working on air quality forecasting.
What are you hoping to pursue and accomplish in future with your research activities?
The Eastern Mediterranean and Cyprus is a region of particular interest regarding air pollution. Studying air pollution and its drivers can give answers to important questions such as what can we do to reduce air pollution in our region.
Thanks, George. Any other comments or notes you would like to add to round off our interview?
I would like to thank my colleagues at CARE-C for the collaboration during these years. Their continuous support, encouragement, and guidance have helped me reach my milestones and I am looking forward to taking on new challenges with our group.
