Tsapakis Manolis

EDUCATION AND QUALIFICATIONS

1998 – 2003. Date of award 25/7/2003
Ph.D. in Environmental Organic Chemistry, University of Crete, Dept of Chemistry (Supervisor Professor E.G. Stephanou) «Study of the atmospheric physical-chemical and transport processes governing the budget of PAHs in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin»

1989-1993 B.Sc Chemistry

SCHOLARSHIPS

1/8/2000-31/10/2000
Erasmus student at Institute of Applied Environmental Research (ITM), Stockholm, Sweden.
1-13/8/1999 Erasmus student at Uppsala University, Sweden

AWARDS

2001
Award for excellent record in postgraduate studies, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete.
2002 Award for excellent record in postgraduate studies, Department of Chemistry, University of Crete.

CAREER (DATE, PLACE AND POSITION)

• 1995-1998. Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, Greece (Technical Scientist)
• 1998-2001. University of Crete, department of Chemistry (PhD Student)
• 1998-today. Part-time lecturer at Technological Educational Institute of Crete
• 2001-2003. Institute of Marine Biology of Crete, Greece (Technical Scientist)
• 2003-2006. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece (Research Scientist)
• 2006-today. Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece (Associate Researcher)

CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS

My research encompasses the atmospheric occurrence, behaviour and degradation of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) including semi-persistent pesticides and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in atmospheric and marine environment. In particular my research areas include:
• Anthropogenic pressure in the marine ecosystems from organic (PCBs, PAHs) and inorganic (nutrients etc) pollutants.
• The effects of meteorology, air/surface exchange and regional sources in controlling atmospheric contaminant behaviour in remote environments.
• Mass transfer though the air sea interface.
• Biomagnification of organic pollutants in marine food chain.
• New technologies and methodology for the detection the environmental pressures.

Scientific Activities and Responsibilities

My work has contributed to the understanding of air-water cycling and long range transport of persistent organic pollutants in the remote eastern Mediterranean. This included examining their sources, occurrence and the processes governing their fate in urban environments. Recent work has focused on the quantification of the atmosphere-ocean exchanges of total organic carbon and the vertical transport process to deeper marine ecosystem. Supplementary to this, the fate of inorganic and organic substances released from non-point sources (with focus on aquaculture activities) is also included in my activities.
As a member of research staff in the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) and Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory (ECPL) of the University of Crete, I have been involved in many studies in the eastern and western Mediterranean, northern Europe, Red Sea and South America. Experience in working overseas was obtained during my short stays (1 and 3 months) in a corresponding research institute in Sweden.

Additional Information

Student supervision (number of students): Experience in advising and supervising Undergraduate (5) Erasmus (2), M.Sc (3) and Ph.D (1) students.

Administrative experience: I have participated as team leader and I have organised many multidisciplinary field and laboratory experiments at a European scale. Furthermore, I have organised a Socrates international summer school.

Languages: Greek (native speaker), English (very good)

Reviewer in International Journals:

Environmental Science and Technology, Atmospheric Environment, Water Air and Soil Pollution, Atmospheric Research, Environmental Pollution, The Science of the Total Environment, Brazilian Journal of Oceanography, Mediterranean Marine Science, International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry.

1. Karakassis I., Tsapakis M., Hatziyanni E. (1998) Seasonal variability in sediment profiles beneath fish farm cages in the Mediterranean. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 162: 243-252.
2. Pitta P., Karakassis I., Tsapakis M., Zivanovic S. (1999) Natural vs. mariculture induced variability in nutrients and plankton in the Eastern Mediterranean. Hydrobiologia 391: 181-194.
3. Karakassis I., Hatziyanni E., Tsapakis M., Plaiti W. (1999) Benthic recovery following cessation of fish farming: a series of successes and catastrophes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 184: 205-218.
4. Karakassis I., Tsapakis M., Hatziyanni E., Papadopoulou K.-N., Plaiti W. (2000) Impact of cage farming of fish on the seabed in three Mediterranean coastal areas. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 57:1462-1471.
5. Kavouras I.G., Koutrakis P., Tsapakis M., Lagoudaki E., Stephanou E.G., Baer D. and Oyola P. (2001). Source apportionment of urban aliphatic and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using multivariate methods. Environmental Science and Technology 35, 11, 2288-2294.
6. Mandalakis M., Tsapakis M. and Stephanou E.G. (2001). Optimization and application of high-resolution gas chromatography with ion trap tandem mass spectrometry to the determination of polychlorinated biphenyls in atmospheric aerosols. Journal of Chromatography A 925, 183-196.
7. Karakassis I., Tsapakis M., Hatziyanni E., Pitta P. (2001). Diel variation of nutrients and chlorophyll in sea bream and sea bass cages in the Mediterranean. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin 10: 278-283.
8. Karakassis I., Tsapakis M., Smith C.J., Rumohr H. (2002) Fish farming impacts in the Mediterranean studied through sediment profiling imagery. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 227: 125-133.
9. Tsapakis M., Lagoudaki, E., Stephanou E.G., Kavouras I.G., Koutrakis, P., Oyola P. and von Baer P. (2002). The composition and sources of PM2.5 Organic Aerosol in two Urban Areas of Chile. Atmospheric Environment 36, 3851-3863.
10. Mandalakis M., Tsapakis M., Tsoga A. and Stephanou E.G. (2002). Gas-Particle concentrations and distribution of aliphatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, PCBs and PCDD/Fs in the atmosphere of Athens (Greece). Atmospheric Environment 36, 4023-4035.
11. Tsapakis M., Stephanou E.G. and Karakassis I. (2003). Evaluation of atmospheric transport as a non-point source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in marine sediments of the Eastern Mediterranean. Marine Chemistry 80, 283-298.
12. Tsapakis M. and Stephanou E.G. (2003). Collection of gas and particle semi volatile organic compounds: use of an oxidant denuder to minimize polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons degradation during High-Volume air sampling. Atmospheric Environment 37, 4935-4944.
13. Apostolaki E., Tsapakis M., Tsagaraki T., Papadopoulou K., Karakassis (2003) Effect of time of first deployment and duration on the succession of benthic organisms on biofilters used to mitigate impact of fish farms on water quality in Crete. Annales Series Historia Naturalis 13, 29-31.
14. Lojen S., Angel D., Katz T., Tsapakis M., Kovac N., Malej A. (2003) 15N enrichment in fouling communities influenced by organic waste deriving from fish farms. Annales Series Historia Naturalis 13, 9-12.
15. Boy, M., Petaja, T., Dal Maso, M., Rannik, U., Rinne, J., Aalto, P., Laaksonen, A., Vaattovaara, P., Joutsensaari, J., Hoffmann, T., Warnke, J., Apostolaki, M., Stephanou, E. G., Tsapakis, M., Kouvarakis, A., Pio, C., Carvalho, A. Rompp, A., Moortgat, G., Spirig, C., Guenther, A., Greenberg, J., P. Ciccioli, P. Kulmala, M. (2004). Overview of the field measurement campaign in Hyytiala, August 2001 in the framework of the EU project OSOA, Atmos. Chem. Phys.4, 657-678, 2004.
16. Tsapakis, M., Stephanou E.G. (2005). Occurrence of gaseous and particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the urban atmosphere: study of sources and ambient temperature effect on the gas/particle concentration and distribution, Environmental Polluion 133, 147-156.
17. Tsapakis, M., Stephanou E.G. (2005). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the atmosphere of the Eastern Mediterranean, Environmental Science and Technology, 39, 6584-6590.
18. Tsapakis M., Pitta P., Karakassis I. (2006). Nutrients and fine particulate matter released from sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) farming, Aquatic Living Resources, 19, 69-75.
19. Cook E.J., Black K.D., Sayer M.D.J., Cromey C.J., Angel D., Spanier E., Tsemel A., Katz T., Eden N., Karakassis I., Tsapakis M., Apostolaki E., Malej A. (2006). The influence of caged mariculture on the early development of sub-littoral fouling communities: a pan-European study, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 63, 637-649.
20. Pitta P., Apostolaki E.T., Tsagaraki T., Tsapakis M., Karakassis I. (2006). Fish farming effects on chemical and microbial variables of the water column: a spatio-temporal study along the Mediterranean Sea, Hydrobiologia, 563, 99-108.
21. Tsapakis, M., Apostolaki, M., Eisenreich, S., Stephanou, E.G. (2006). Atmospheric deposition and marine sedimentation fluxes of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin Environmental Science and Technology, 40, 4922-4927.
22. Apostolaki E.T, Tsagkaraki, T., Tsapakis, M., Karakassis, I. (2006) Fish farming effects on macrofaunal communities associated with Mediterranean seagrass meadows. Biologia Marina Mediterranea 13(4): 119-121.
23. Holmer M., Marba N., Diaz-Almela E., Duarte C.M., Tsapakis M., Danovaro R. (2007). Sedimentation of organic matter from fish farms in oligotrophic Mediterranean assessed through bulk and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) analyses, Aquaculture, 262, 268-280.
24. Apostolaki E.T., Tsagkaraki, T., Tsapakis, M., Karakassis, I. (2007). Fish farming impact on sediments and macrofauna associated with seagrass meadows in the Mediterranean, Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science, 75, 408-416.
25. Tsapakis M., Stephanou E.G. (2007). Diurnal cycle of PAHs, nitro-PAHs and oxy-PAHs in a high oxidation capacity marine background atmosphere, Environmental Science and Technology, 41, 8011-8017.
26. Holmer M., Argyrou M., Dalsgaard T., Danovaro R., Diaz-almela E., Duarte C.M, Frederiksen M., Karakassis I., Marbà N., Mirto S., Pérez M., Pusceddu A., Tsapakis M. (2008). Effects of fish farm waste on Posidonia oceanica meadows: synthesis and provision of monitoring and management tools. Marine Pollution Bulletin 56, 1618–1629.
27. Pitta P., Tsapakis M., Apostolaki E.T., Tsagaraki T., Holmer M., Karakassis I. (2009). ‘Ghost nutrients’ from fish farms are transferred up the food web by phytoplankton grazers. Marine Ecology Progress Series 374: 1-6.
28. Tsapakis M., Dakanali E., Stephanou E.G., Karakassis I., (2010). PAHs and n-alkanes in Mediterranean coastal marine sediments: Aquaculture as a significant point source. J. Environ. Monit, 12, 958-963.
29. Tsagaraki, T.M., Petihakis, G. , Tsiaras, K., Triantafyllou, G. , Tsapakis, M., Korres, G., Kakagiannis, G., Frangoulis, C., Karakassis, I. (2011). Beyond the cage: Ecosystem modelling for impact evaluation in aquaculture. Ecological Modelling, 222, 2512-2523.