Konstantinos Alexopoulos

Konstantinos Alexopoulos is a Greek conservationist and mountain climate scientist currently pursuing his PhD in Polar Studies at the Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge. He serves as Research Associate at the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation and is the co-founder and director of the Hellenic Mountain Observatory, a non-profit dedicated to mountain protection through transdisciplinary research and environmental education.

His educational background includes a First Class Honours BSc in Ocean Science & Marine Conservation from the University of Plymouth (2018-2022), where his thesis focused on artisanal fishers' local environmental knowledge for seagrass habitat mapping. His current PhD research at Cambridge investigates Mediterranean snow hydrology, funded by the Cambridge Trust and Bodossaki Foundation.

Alexopoulos's research lies at the interface between climate, ecosystems, and society, with specific focus on Mediterranean snow hydrology, mountain snow cover dynamics, Balkan chamois habitat use, alpine lake hydrology in Northern Pindus, elevation-dependent warming, and microplastics in alpine environments. His work combines extensive fieldwork across Greek mountains with satellite remote sensing, machine learning, and numerical modeling to understand climate impacts on mountain water resources and ecosystems.

His recent publications reveal critical findings including the halving of Greek mountain snow cover over the last four decades due to warming, elevation-dependent warming patterns on Mt. Olympus, and the first evidence of microplastics in remote alpine lakes of the Pindus range. His research spans climate science, hydrology, ecology, and environmental pollution, with a strong emphasis on practical applications for conservation and policy.

• National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration Level I Grant (2024)
• George & Marie Vergottis Scholarship, Cambridge Trust (2023-2026)
• Bodossaki Foundation Scholarship (2023-2026)
• Royal Geographical Society Associate Fellow
• National Geographic Explorer designation

Alexopoulos actively supervises field research teams across multiple Greek mountain ranges, conducting expeditions that include installing weather stations, collecting water samples for microplastic analysis, and mapping wildlife distributions. His research has directly contributed to environmental policy, including the designation of a 430 km² Fisheries Restricted Area in the Aegean Sea. Through the Hellenic Mountain Observatory, he is building capacity for long-term mountain environmental monitoring in Greece and the Mediterranean region.

His LiMnADs Project represents the first continuous hydrological monitoring of Greek alpine lakes, combining traditional field methods with innovative technologies including drone-based photogrammetry and underwater echosounders. Alexopoulos's work bridges polar and mountain research traditions, applying polar science methodologies to Mediterranean mountain environments that face unique climate challenges.