Dr Elias Symeonakis

My profile

Biography

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

2015: PGCert in Academic Practice, Manchester Met, UK

2001: PhD in Geography, King’s College London, UK

1997: MSc Geographical Information Systems, University College London, UK

1995: BEng Surveying Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

CURRENT & PREVIOUS APPOINTMENTS

2020 - present: Reader in Earth Observation & GIS (UK)

2014 - 2020: Senior Lecturer in GIS & the Environment, Manchester Met (UK)

2011 - 2014: Lecturer in GIS & the Environment, Manchester Met (UK)

2008 - 2011: Lecturer in Geographical Analysis, University of the Aegean (Greece)

2005 - 2007: Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO (Australia)

2002 - 2004: Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Valencia (Spain)

2001 - 2002: Visiting Research Fellow, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT/CGIAR) (Colombia)

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

My research focus is in the field of Remote Sensing of Land Degradation. It is driven by the desire to combine state-of-the-art Earth Observation technologies, AI algorithms and open access data to derive impactful products that can guide the development of mitigation strategies, especially in countries where resources are scarce. I provide valuable input to policy makers at the local, regional and national scales, review intergovernmental panel reports, present evidence to UN meetings and make recommendations that are having a significant effect in efforts to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality by 2030.

Interests and expertise

  • Land use/land cover mapping, monitoring & modelling

  • Land degradation & desertification over sub-Saharan African & Mediterranean environments

  • Savannah vegetation monitoring 

  • Habitat monitoring & fragmentation analysis

  • Surface runoff & soil erosion modelling 

Impact

Our work on the optimisation of tse-tse fly eradication programmes in Zambia (Symeonakis et al. 2007) focused on the problem of the presence of the fly in areas with a high agricultural and livestock development potential. We used GIS and decision support tools along with remote sensing and other environmental data, to identify infested areas where trypanosomiasis control can provide relief to nearby tsetse-free, but heavily ‘pressured’, land. The proposed methodology was tested by the Zambian Environmental Management Agency in an area near Nyimba. The results suggested that, whilst in the short-term, policies based on the conservation of ecosystem services are less profitable, the sustainability and long-term benefits of such approaches should also be considered.

Through my involvement in the UNDP Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project as a member of the Sedimentation Special Study group, we produced the first ever estimates of sedimentation rates for the Lake, with high deforestation rates, identified though state-of-the-art Remote Sensing technologies, as the main cause for concern. Our findings are used by all riparian states to guide their decision making process with regards to reversing land degradation in the region. These mitigation actions have direct benefits for millions of some of the world’s poorest populations: local fishermen, agricultural and pastoral communities in Burundi, the D.R of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia.

Our paper “Monitoring Desertification and Land Degradation over Sub-Saharan Africa”, published in the International Journal of Remote Sensing in 2004 (Symeonakis and Drake, 2004), triggered four distinct citation chains.

Projects

MAJOR FUNDED PROJECTS

2022-2024: EU H2020 Marie Curie ‘SAV-EO’ Project: “Land Degradation Neutrality: Towards an Earth Observation-based Early Warning System for Savannah Degradation”

2021-2022: Leverhulme International Fellowship ‘SCALE’ Project: ”diSentangling the Climate chAnge-Land degradation nExus”

2019-2025: EU H2020 Marie Curie ‘PantEOn’ Project: “Spatio-temporal pattern analysis for eco-hydro-geomorphological connectivity assessment with multiscale Earth Observation”

2019-2023: Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant: “Using glaciers to identify, monitor, and predict volcanic activity”

2018: British Council/Newton Fund 

2017-2018: Natural England, “From Space to Eye Lens: Monitoring protected sites with Earth Observation”

2015: Natural England “Regional scale wetland management”

2015: People’s Trust for Endangered Species

2015: Shearwater Foundation

2014-2018: EU FP7 Marie Curie Career Integration Grant, ‘LanDDApp’ Project: “Land Degradation and Desertification Appraisal for Southern African Savannahs”

2009-2013: EU FP7 Marie Curie IRSES Project ‘COMPASS’ (Institutional Coordinator for the University of the Aegean)

2005-2008: EU FP6 Marie Curie Outgoing International Fellowship (‘Monitoring Land Use’ Project)

2002-2004: EU FP5 Marie Curie R30 Individual Fellowship

2001-2002: The British Council

1999-2000: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) (Lake Tanganyika Biodiversity Project)

The Remote Sensing Research Group is currently involved in a number of other externally funded projects related with the monitoring of land cover and of Earth surface processes. For more details, visit our website at www.remote-sensing-mmu.org

Teaching

TEACHING

Unit Coordination:

6F4Z3118: Introducing GIS

6F4Z3119: Cartography and Remote Sensing

6F7Z3103: Earth Observation and GI Technologies

6F7Z1050: Earth Observation & GIS.

6F7Z1032: GIS Remote Sensing for Conservation (new MSc Course with the College of African Wildlife Management)

Joint Contribution:

6F4Z3113: Global Environmental Issues

6F6Z3107: Environmental Remote Sensing & GIS

6F6ZXXXX: Tropical Ecology &Conservation

6Z6Z3001: Project

Supervision

Current PhD students: 

Iliya Nababa, Carlos Bedson, Michael Martin, Joana Borges, Lucy Millington

Recent PhD completions: 

Joseph Nwachukwu, Jacqui Morrison, Chris Harrison, Yiannis Kougkoulos, Thomas Higginbottom

Post-doc researchers:

Dr Eva Arnau-Rosalén, EU Marie-Curie Fellow

Dr Christina Karakizi, EU Marie-Curie Fellow

Dr Joseph Mallalieu, Leverhulme Trust-funded project

Research outputs

Career history

2020 - present

Reader in Earth Observation & GIS (UK)

2014 - 2020

Senior Lecturer in GIS & the Environment, Manchester Met (UK)

2011 - 2014

Lecturer in GIS & the Environment, Manchester Met (UK)

2008 - 2011

Lecturer in Geographical Analysis, University of the Aegean (Greece)

2005 - 2007

Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CSIRO (Australia)

2002 - 2004

Marie Curie Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of Valencia (Spain)

2001 - 2002

Visiting Research Fellow, Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT/CGIAR) (Colombia)

Press and media