Prof. Christos Zerefos

Head, Research Center for Atmospheric Physics & Climatology
Academy of Athens

Christos Zerefos, Head, Research Center for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens. President-elect of the General Assembly of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (2017). Professor of Atmospheric and Environmental Physics at the Universities of Athens, Thessaloniki, Visiting Professor, Universities of Minnesota and Boston. Samarbeidspartnere (Scientific Collaborator), University of Oslo. He has been known for his research in ozone, UV, ozone-climate interactions and climate extreme events. His research led to important contributions to international agreements such as the Montreal Protocol. Member, Academy of Athens, Academia Europaea, Norwegian Academy of Sciences and Letters, European Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and other distinguished scientific societies. UNESCO Chair Holder on Natural Hazards; Honorary Professor, Physics Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki; Honorary Doctorate Degree, Physics Department, University of Patras; Honorary Degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, University division of the American College ANATOLIA, Thessaloniki;Recipient of the UNEP Global Ozone Award, 1997 and a number of distinctions, awards and medals from WMO/UNEP and several scientific societies (e.g. Blaise Pascal Medal, European Academy of Sciences; AGU Kaufman Award; European and Balkan Physics Societies Award; European Union Prize for Cultural Heritage-Europa Nostra Award and others) for his career achievements. In the past 20 years has acted as author, contributor or reviewer in almost all WMO/UNEP Scientific Assessments of Ozone Depletion and reviewer in IPCC Aviation and extreme events reports (1998 and 2013). Award Certificate and Letter from UNEP and IPCC for substantial contribution to the reports of IPCC, which shared the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the former Vice President of USA, Al Gore (December 2007). Has supervised 30 PhD and 50 MSc and has created from zero (1) The Research Centre for Atmospheric Physics and Climatology, Academy of Athens (1978) (2) The Laboratory of Atmospheric Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1981) (3) The WMO Northern Hemisphere Ozone Mapping Centre (1991) (4) The Graduate Programme on Environmental Physics, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1991) (5) The Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens (2003) (6) The UNESCO Chair on Natural Hazards in the Geosphere, the Hydrosphere and the Atmosphere (2007) (7) The Geoastrophysics Museum, National Observatory of Athens (2008) (8) The Navarino Environmental Observatory in Messenia (2009). His research work in peer reviewed scientific journals is acknowledged widely by the scientific community.