Ioannis Gitas

Bio

Prof. Dr. Ioannis Gitas serves as the Director of the Laboratory of Forest Management and Remote Sensing at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece. An accomplished scholar, Ioannis is an elected fellow of both the Cambridge Philosophical Society and the Hellenic Agricultural Academy. He holds a PhD and an MPhil in GIS and Remote Sensing from the Department of Geography at the University of Cambridge, UK, as well as a BSc Hons in Forestry and Natural Environment from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

His research expertise lies in the application of remote sensing and GIS for environmental monitoring, with a particular focus on forest fire management, land cover/land use mapping, and change detection. With over 25 years of experience, Ioannis has worked as a consultant on GIS and remote sensing projects for national and international organizations, as well as for industry. He has contributed to numerous national and international projects and is the author or co-author of more than 230 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at international conferences. Additionally, he has served as a project proposal reviewer for various national and international research organizations.

Dr. Gitas holds several editorial roles, including Editor for PeerJ and MDPI Earth, Associate Editor for MDPI Remote Sensing, and Editorial Board Member for MDPI Fire. He has also edited special issues for several high-impact factor journals. With extensive experience in organizing international workshops and conferences, Ioannis has made significant contributions to the scientific community.

From 2010 to 2021, he served as Chair of the Special Interest Group on Forest Fires (EARSeL-FFSIG) within the European Association of Remote Sensing Laboratories. Currently, he is the Greek representative at ICOS ERIC, the FAO Forest Resources Assessment – Remote Sensing Survey contact point for Greece, a member of the GOFC-GOLD Fire Implementation Team, a member of the GEO GWIS team, and the first-term co-leader of the NASA LCLUC Mediterranean Regional Information Network (MedRIN).