Panayotis Panayotidis born in Thessaloniki Greece (1953) is Natural Scientist - Oceanographer.
BSc in Natural Sciences from the University of Thessaloniki, Greece (1975) & PhD in Oceanography from the University of Aix-Marseille II, France (1980).
Military service at the Oceanographic Department of the Greek Navy (1981-1982).
Researcher at the Hellenic Center for Marine Research (HCMR) since 1983 and Research Director in the HCMR since 2000.
Leading expert in biology, taxonomy and ecology of marine Angiosperms and macro-algae, marine habitat mapping and costal management.
He was involved in the implementation of the EU Habitat Directive (HD, 92/43/EEC), Water Framework Directive (WFD, 2000/60/EC) and Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD, 2008/56/EC) in the Mediterranean eco-region, as well as in the implementation of UNEP/MAP MEDPOL and Ecosystem Approach (EcAp).
In parallel he was partner in several EU research projects (ΜETROMED, SPICOSA, PERSEUS, MESMA, ADRIPLAN).
Since 2004 he teaches at the multidisciplinary post-graduated course “Science and Technology of water systems” at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA).