Short CV

Nefeli Kotitsa studied Biology in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2013-2018), and in 2020 received an MSc title in the I.P.M.S. “Environmental Biology” from the University of Crete (Biology Department).  In the past she has worked on various topics in environmental biology (dendrochronology, bird ethology, bear monitoring), while today her research focuses in the Order Orthoptera (Insecta) (taxonomy, biogeography, phylogeography, molecular phylogeny, systematics, ecology).

Her interest in Orthoptera started from her master’s thesis, which she performed in the Arthropod Division of the Natural History Museum of Crete on the ecology and biogeography of the Orthoptera of Crete. During an Erasmus+ internship and other research projects, she focused on the molecular phylogeny and taxonomy of Orthoptera, with emphasis on some Cretan endemics.

Since 2023 she is a PhD student in the Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences where she is working on the phylogeography and systematics of Orthoptera of the Balkans. At the same time, she participates in projects on the conservation of Greek fauna, such as the project “Υλοποίηση μέτρων του Σχεδίου Δράσης της Νήσου Χρυσή” and in the assessments of Orthoptera species for the IUCN Red List. Finally, she has attended training schools and workshops on the management of museum and digital collections.