Iliopoulos George

Professor of Palaeontology

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Sector: General, Marine Geology & Geodynamics

+30 2610 996 160

Office: 217 (Geology Building, 2nd Floor)

George Iliopoulos is Professor of Paleontology and Stratigraphy at the Department of Geology of the University of Patras and head of the Laboratory of Paleontology and Stratigraphy. For the last 10 years he has also been the Scientific Coordinator of the UNESCO Global Geopark of Chelmos – Vouraikos and a member of the Coordinating Committees of the European and Global Geoparks of UNESCO. At the same time, he has recently been an evaluator for UNESCO and the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) on issues of UNESCO Global Geoparks.

After completing his undergraduate studies at the Department of Geology of the University of Athens, he did his PhD studies at the Department of Geology of the University of Leicester, United Kingdomin vertebrate palaeontology. His main research interests are the study of fossils and their paleoenvironment, the stratigraphic study of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sequences, as well as the studyand promotion  of geodiversity, the protection of geological heritage and geotourism.He actively collaborates with several academic institutions and organizations in Greece and abroad.

He has published more than 86 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed scientific journals and in collective volumes, and has presented more than 270 oral or poster presentations at scientific conferences. He has participated in more than 37 research projects, being a scientific coordinator in 14 of them.

• Tsoni, M., Iliopoulos, G., Valavani, D., Liapi, E., Papadopoulou, P., Stamoulis, K. Koukouvelas, I., Kontopoulos, N., 2021: Palaeoecological inferences on the Pleistocene deposits of the Charadros River (Rio graben, Western Corinth Gulf, Greece). Quaternary International, vol. 589, pp. 39-54.

• Bourli, Ν., Iliopoulos, G., Papadopoulou, P., Zelilidis, A., 2021: Facies analysis and depositional conditions of Mesozoic carbonates: Implication on Ionian basin evolution. Geosciences, vol. 11 (7), 288.

• Psonis, N., Vassou, D., Nicolaou, L., Roussiakis, S., Iliopoulos, G., Poulakakis, N., Sfenthourakis, S., 2022: Ancient mitochondrial sequencesof the extinct Cypriot pygmy hippopotamus. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, vol. 196(3), pp. 979-989.

• Iliopoulos, G., Roussiakis, S., 2022: The fossil record of giraffes (Mammalia: Giraffidae) in Greece. In: Vlachos, E. (Ed.), The fossil vertebrates of Greece, vol. 2, Springer Verlag, pp. 301-333.

• Sianis, P.D., Kostopoulos, D.S., Roussiakis, S., Athanassiou, A., Iliopoulos, G., 2023: The bovids (Artiodactyla) from the Lower Pleistocene locality of Karnezeika (Southern Greece). Historical Biology, vol. 35 (5), pp. 661-667.

Undergraduate Courses

Geol_010 Evolution of the living world – Palaeontology                                
Geol_020 Stratigraphy – Historical Geology                                            
Geol_014 Field Course I     
Geol_038 Field Course IV   
Geol_069 Field Course VIII                                 
Geol_077 Applied Micropalaeontology – Palaeoenvironment

MSc Courses

GEO_CAD 04 Natural Hazards                           
GEO_CAD 08 Collection and processing of Palaeontological and Stratigraphic Data          
CO1 Geological principles in Palaeobiology                              
PO1 Comparative anatomy / Morphology – Vertebrate Biometry                                  
PS3 Modern research methods in Macropalaeontology          
PS6 Palaeoecology – Biomechanics – morphofunctional ecology

Paleontology, Micropaleontology

Stratigraphy – Biostratigraphy, microfacies analysis of carbonate rocks

Taphonomy, fossilization processes

Palaeoecology, Palaeoclimate, Palaeoenvironment

Geodiversity Conservation, protection and promotion of Geological Heritage,relation of Geodiversity with Biodiversity, Geoparks

2026-2031: “Attica Regional in Integrated Environmental and Material Survey (ARTEMIS)”. “Attica Regional in Integrated Environmental and Material Survey (ARTEMIS)”. University of Birmingham. Funded by Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK),

2026-2029: “Dione: Empowering Women Through Environmental Education and Green Opportunities in UNESCO Global Geoparks”. ERASMUS+ 2025 with Form ID: KA220-ADU-28E253D1. Funded by ERASMUS+. Scientific Coordinator

2024-2026: “Digitization of natural history collections of the University of Patras (DiSSCo)” of the project “SUB4 Digitization of Greek Natural History Collections” of the Action “16851 – The protection of biodiversity as a driver of sustainable development of Axis 1.4 – Sustainable use of resources, resilience to climate change and conservation of biodiversity of the Green Transition Pillar” with code MIS 5203056”. Funding Agency: Ministry of Environment and Energy through Greece 2.0 of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NextGeneration EU). Scientific Coordinator, University of Patras

2022 – 2023: “Ostracods from caves in Greece and Germany: a pilot study for paleo(ecological) and biogeographical cooperation”. Funding PROGRAM: IKYDA 2022, Greece – Germany. Scientific Coordinator

2020- 2023: “Record and study the Geodiversity & Biodiversity of the Kefalonia – Ithaca Geopark”. Funded from the National Strategic Reference Framework, Region of the Ionian Islands. Scientific Coordinator