In Conversation with Katiana Constantinidou, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Environmental Predictions Department (EPD) of CARE-C

Hello Katiana, to start off our conversation can you tell us a bit about yourself and your background?

I have received my BSc in Physics and my MSc in Astrophysics, Geophysics and Meteorology with specialization in Meteorology from Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski in Sofia, Bulgaria”. I then joined the Energy, Environment & Water Research Center (EEWRC) of the Cyprus Institute, and I was working as a Research Assistant in the field of climate change impacts on agriculture. In March 2016, I enrolled in the Energy, Environment and Atmospheric Sciences PhD program of the Cyprus Institute with Assoc. Prof. Panos Hadjinicolaou as my supervisor. My research interests lie in the field of regional climate modelling, climate change and impacts.

Can you tell us a bit about your role, and how long you have been at CARE-C?

In July 2020, I successfully defended my thesis and received my PhD. Since the 1st of September 2020, I have joined the Climate and Atmosphere Research Center of the Cyprus Institute(CARE-C) as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, and as part of the Environmental Predictions Department (EPD), led by Prof. Jos Lelieveld. I am working on regional climate modelling, mainly in the framework of the RIF CELSIUS project.

Congratulations again on receiving your PhD. Please tell us a bit more about your research focus and how you plan to develop this after receiving your doctorate.

My PhD work focussed on assessing the effects of land surface representation on the modelled climate of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region using the Weather, Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. The knowledge and experience that I gained during my studies are now put in force in order to help research that is done on regional climate modelling and climate change in the EPD of CARE-C, with an emphasis on land-atmosphere interactions at regional and local scales.

How was the experience of doing a PhD at the Cyprus Institute?

The journey of a PhD is not easy, but when you have full support and help of your supervisor and colleagues smoothens out the pathway, and this is what happened to my case. I had the opportunity to learn from well-known experts in my field through the courses offered by the Graduate School of CyI and from participating in conferences and trainings abroad. The chance that I had to present my work at International conferences was also valuable in terms of gaining experience in presenting in front of other scientists, meeting them and exchanging ideas. 

What are you hoping to pursue and accomplish in future?

I would like to continue my career in the research of climate change and modelling, learn as much more as possible in the field, especially in improving the projections of regional climate and the translation of the model results into information useful for climate change action. By  these means I am hoping to contribute in advancing climate research and services in Cyprus and our region.

Thank you, Katiana. Is there anything else you would like to add to round off our conversation? I would like to thank my supervisor, the Head of EPD and my colleagues for the support and help that they have given to me throughout my PhD journey and also CARE-C for giving me the opportunity to continue my career within the Center.