I was born in Lichada, the northernmost village of Evia Island in Central Greece. My father’s profession as forest worker, farmer and beekeeper inspired me to love nature and especially bees! My studies in the Agricultural University of Athens in the Plant Production Department offered me the chance to learn more about plants and insects; hence I specialized in Plant Protection, Environment and Apiculture. My MSc study had to do with the honeydew producing forest scale insect Marchalina hellenica Gen.
After finishing my studies, I worked for APIVITA at the department of beekeeping products, and afterwards for DIO, the organization for the inspection and certification of organic products. Nowadays, I work as an agronomist for the Ministry of Rural Development and Food.
My PhD research deals with the bee fauna of Mt. Olympus, in hopes of new discoveries about pollinators, plant reproduction and the ecosystems of the mountain of the Gods!
My topics of interest are Apiculture, Entomology, Ecology and Forestry, but I also like reading, traveling and photographing. I am a semi-professional beekeeper and in my spare time I enjoy hiking, mountaineering, alpinism, mountain bike and paragliding. I always seek for knowledge and freedom…
PUBLICATIONS
Minachilis, K., A. Kantsa, J. Devalez, P. Trigas, T. Tscheulin, and T.
Petanidou. 2020. Bumblebee diversity and pollination networks along the
elevation gradient of Mount Olympus, Greece. Diversity and Distributions, in press.
The "throne of Zeus" (Stefani peak, 2,909m ASL) as seen from the plateau of the Muses
