Role in CaRe-GR
Leads Task 2.3 (Mapping marine caves and their biodiversity) and WP4 (Assessing the ecological status of marine caves in Greece). He also contributes to project reporting activities (Task 1.2), to Task 5.3 (Prioritization of restoration actions on reefs and marine caves), and to all DECO activities under WP6.
Biography
Vasilis Gerovasileiou is Associate Professor of Marine and Coastal Biodiversity at the Department of Environment of the Ionian University, Greece, and collaborative university faculty of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR). He holds a PhD in Marine Biology from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, specializing in the biodiversity of marine caves in the Aegean Sea. His research focuses on marine biodiversity and ecology, with emphasis on marine caves, coralligenous assemblages, benthic invertebrates (especially sponges), biological invasions, climate-change impacts, and marine conservation. He has extensive experience in scientific diving, underwater habitat mapping, non-destructive visual census techniques, photoquadrat analyses, biodiversity assessments, and ROV-based monitoring.
Within the CaRe-GR project, he leads Task 2.3 “Mapping marine caves and their biodiversity” and WP4 “Assessing the ecological status of marine caves in Greece”. His contribution includes compiling scientific, grey literature, and unpublished biodiversity data to develop a national thematic map of marine caves in Greece, coordinating underwater field surveys in under-studied areas, and supporting the national-scale ecological assessment of marine caves through ecosystem-based indices such as CavEBQI, photoquadrat analyses, and AI-assisted image analysis approaches.
He has participated in more than 60 research projects and has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in high-impact journals such as Nature, Biological Reviews, and Global Change Biology. Since 2020, he has served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Mediterranean Marine Science and as Coordinator and Founding Editor of the World Register of Marine Cave Species (WoRCS) of WoRMS. His work combines research, monitoring, conservation, and policy-oriented activities related to dark habitats in the Mediterranean Sea.