Welcome to the
Theophrastus Research Institute
The Theophrastus Research Institute (TheoRI) is a team of international researchers and practitioners conducting independent research and policy consultation on connections among environment, climate change and diverse economic, social, and political challenges. Based at the crossroads of three continents on Lesvos Island in Greece, TheoRI specializes in analysis of intersecting issues in the Mediterranean and southern Europe and with links to Europe and around the world.
TheoRI helps bridge the gaps between research, policymaking, and practice through scientifically rigorous, policy-relevant, and case specific analysis. Using a range of research methodologies ranging from remote sensing to co-designed participatory research methodologies, TheoRI works with diverse stakeholders to support decision-making and create change directly connected to clients' unique needs.
Greek philosopher in the Peripatetic School
Theophrastus
Theophrastus was a leading Greek philosopher in the Peripatetic School. Author of many wide-ranging texts, he is best known for his 10 volume Enquiry on Plants and is often referred to as the father of botany. He was close to Aristotle and succeeded him at the Lyceum in Athens. Theophrastus was born on the Greek Island of Lesvos (c. 371–287 BCE), today’s headquarters for the Theophrastus Research Institute.
For more on Theophrastus, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/theophrastus/.
Topics
TheoRI produces research on critical, interconnected environmental, social, and political challenges. We focus on often neglected dimensions of climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience strategies, as well as the latest environmental protection and pollution clean-up strategies. In addition, we analyze links between climate change, energy transitions, peace, and security.
Our work examines these sectors in rural and urban contexts with a special focus on Europe and the European Union while recognizing the international interconnected nature of environment, sustainability, and security issues.
TheoRI supports a diversity of actors in cities, countries, and regions respond to climate change with efforts to increase their climate resilience. We facilitate community-led development of mechanisms to prepare for and cope with the changing environment.
We adopt an inclusive approach to advancing sustainability, embracing the diversity of its economic, environmental, and social dimensions. We tackle pollution that challenges our ability to preserve and restore the health of our air, soil, ecosystems, and water.
Climate change and the environment are increasingly linked to peace and security worldwide, making these topics priorities in Europe. The full spectrum of defense, diplomacy, and development actors play key environment, energy, and climate roles. Peace, security, and stability are core conditions for sustainable development and climate resilience, just as threats to security and increased fragility are linked to climate and environmental change.
- We focus on neglected dimensions of climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience strategies.
- Climate responses
- We analyze the latest strategies for environmental protection and pollution clean-up.
- Environmental protection
- We study the links between climate change, energy transitions, peace, and security.
- Energy, climate and security
- We support diverse actors in enhancing their climate resilience.
- Climate resilience
- We tackle pollution to preserve and restore the health of our environment.
- Pollution challenges
Services
The Theophrastus Research Institute offers a diverse range of services to support sustainable development and informed decision-making. Our services include:
- Policy Analysis
- We offer policy analysis for climate-informed decisions across institutional frameworks, policy agendas, and scenarios.
- Original Research
- Our team conducts original research utilizing a wide range of methods.
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- We provide monitoring and evaluation services to support decision-makers.
- Capacity Building
- We offer capacity building programs for institutions and communities.
- Training and Education
- We provide training and education programs to develop applied knowledge and skills.
- Debate and Conference Facilitation
- We facilitate debates and conferences through a wide range of forums and formats.
Our Team
Our team of committed experts is devoted to tackling environmental, social, and political issues. Their vast experience and varied viewpoints allow for creative problem-solving and the ability to effect positive change..
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Dimitrios Kantemnidis
TheoRI Founder and Executive Director
Founder and Executive Director
Dimitrios Kantemnidis
Dimitrios Kantemnidis is the Managing Director of the Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC) of Lesvos, the European Union’s largest refugee camp based on Lesvos Island, Greece. He previously served as a naval officer in the Greek Navy for 17 years after receiving his bachelor's degree from the Hellenic Naval Academy. Kantemnidis held the rank of captain and second in command officer on numerous warships. He completed postgraduate studies at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School where he earned a Master of Science in Physics and a Master of Arts in Security Studies (Civil-Military Relations).
He is completing a PhD at the Laboratory for Environmental Policy & Strategic Environmental Management at the Department of Environment of the University of Aegean. His Ph.D. research focuses on how EU-actors around the Common Security and Defence Policy integrate environmental security dimensions. For his doctoral research, he has been a PhD Fellow at the Doctoral School of the European Security and Defense College in Brussels, funded by the State Scholarships Foundation of Greece.
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Iosif Botetzagias
TheoRI Senior Researcher
TheoRI Senior Researcher
Iosif Botetzagias
Iosif Botetzagias is a Professor of Environmental Politics and Policy in the Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, Greece. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) in Physics (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, GR), a M.Sc. in Environmental Impact Assessment and Auditing (University of East Anglia, UK) and a Ph.D. in Politics (Keele University, UK). He teaches in a number of universities in Greece and abroad (University of Thessaly (GR), International University of Greece (GR), Central European University (HU)) while he is currently a visiting professor at the Department of History, Ionian University, Greece.
His research focuses on pro-environmental behaviors, environmental communication, citizen engagement and environmental policy assessment. He has co-edited 3 books and authored over 25 book chapters, 4 books, 30+ research articles in journals such as Waste Management, Environment & Behaviour, Environmental Communication, Environmental Politics, Global Environmental Politics, Sustainability, Local Environment, Journal of Environmental Planning & Management, Energy Policy, Ecological Economics.
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Geoffrey D. Dabelko
TheoRI Senior Associate Researcher
TheoRI Senior Associate Researcher
Geoffrey D. Dabelko
Geoff Dabelko is a Professor at the George V. Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio USA. Dabelko serves as a senior advisor to the Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP), a nonpartisan policy forum at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, D.C. From 1997-2012, he served as director of ECSP, working with policymakers, practitioners, and scholars grappling with the complex connections among environment, climate, conflict, peacebuilding, and security. He is also an Associate Senior Fellow with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and a Research Associate with Age-Friendly Innovation Center. He worked previously at Foreign Policy and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Dabelko is co-editor of Green Planet Blues: Critical Perspectives on Global Environmental Politics (6th ed. 2019) and Environmental Peacemaking (2002). He was a lead author for the 5th assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Working Group II Chapter 12 on Human Security released in 2014. He is currently an author for the 5th U.S. National Climate Assessment. Dabelko has a Ph.D. in government and politics from the University of Maryland, College Park and an AB in political science from Duke University.
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Konstantinos Topouzelis
TheoRI Senior Researcher
TheoRI Senior Researcher
Konstantinos Topouzelis
Kostantinos Topouzelis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences of the University of Aegean where he heads the Marine Remote Sensing Group. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from the University of the Aegean, Department of Environment, a Master's degree in Remote Sensing from the University of Dundee, Department of Applied Physics & Mechanical Engineering, and a Ph.D. in pollution monitoring from space from the National Technical University of Athens, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering.
His main research interest focuses on the analysis of remote sensing datasets, including satellite and aerial images, for marine and coastal applications. His expertise includes automatic detection of oceanographic phenomena, Object Based Image Analysis, image processing algorithms and coastal mapping. He is among the top 2% of scientists worldwide in Image Processing, based on Scopus standardized citation metrics. He is an author of more than 50 refereed papers in international scientific journals and books, a member of editorial board of several scientific journals, and a principal investigator in international research projects. Prior to his academic career, Topouzelis worked for the European Commission Joint Research Centre in ISPRA, Italy and in the Greek private sector.
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Efthalia Spartali
TheoRI Education Specialist
TheoRI Education Specialist
Efthalia Spartali
Efthalia Spartali works at the University of the Aegean where she collaborates in research projects with students in the classroom, the lab, and the field. She currently serves on the research team of National Kapodistrian University of Athens and the Amsterdam University, investigating child refugee nutrition at the Closed Controlled Access Center (CCAC) of Lesvos. Spartali has taught as a primary education teacher in seven different schools in Athens and on Lesvos Island.
She has expertise teaching minority groups having previously taught classes for Roma students, refugee students, and Greek diaspora students. She also spent two years teaching Greek as a second language in California at the Hellenic Cultural Institute of Central Coast, Monterey (CA) and at the Center of Hellenic Education, San Jose (CA). She received her Master's degree in “French as a Second Language-Pluralism, Intercultural and Linguistic Policies” from the Université de Tours, France and completed a three-month curriculum in “Teaching English as a Second Language” at the Peninsula College in Monterey (CA). She has served for a year as the coordinator of the Comenius project for European schools, which included participants from seven different European countries. She speaks Greek (native), English (C2), French (C1) and Italian (B2).
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Emma Dabelko
Intern
Intern
Emma Dabelko
Emma Dabelko, is a senior at Indiana University’s Hamilton Lugar School of Global and International Studies majoring in International Studies with minors in Environmental and Sustainability Studies and African Languages. Her research focuses on global development, climate policy, and sustainable agriculture. She previously served as a summer intern with the International Livestock Research Institute in Nairobi, Kenya conducting research on greenhouse gas emissions from livestock and wildlife.
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Ayden Schirmacher
Intern
Intern
Ayden Schirmacher
Ayden Schirmacher is a senior at Boston College majoring in Sociology with minors in Environmental Studies, International Studies, and Hispanic Studies. She has conducted climate-related research in Argentina, Antarctica, Ecuador, Malawi, Spain, and the United States, with a focus on the conservation of species and the global power dynamics associated with diminishing resources in an era of climate change.
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Elizabeth Sharon
Intern
Intern
Elizabeth Sharon
Elizabeth Sharon is a senior at Tufts University majoring in Environmental Science and Policy with a special interest in sustainable food systems. She has previous experience teaching environmental education to elementary schoolers and has studied abroad in France, Spain, Ecuador, and Malawi. She is interested in environmental policy and advocacy.
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Annabelle Veith
Intern
Intern
Annabelle Veith
Annabelle Veith is a senior at Bucknell University where she is double majoring in International Relations and Environmental Studies. Her area of concentration is Africa and her thematic track is Development & Sustainability. She completed her University’s Global Ambassador Program analyzing the UN and COP26 efforts working towards SDG 13: Climate Action. She completed a study abroad program on sustainable agriculture in Ecuador, Malawi, and Spain.
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Mary Waterman
Intern
Intern
Mary Waterman
Mary Waterman is a senior at College of William and Mary majoring in Government with a focus in international security. Her research centers on often overlooked international security issues such as asymmetric cyberwarfare and climate change. She is a research analyst for DisinfoLab, a student-led think tank that works to better understand and combat disinformation.
Selfie at Nafplion
Area nearby TheoRI’s HQ
Conference Venue
Area nearby TheoRI’s HQ
Contact Us
Theophrastus Research Institute