Valasia Iakovoglou

Title : Monitoring and Mitigating pollutants at the Aggitis Basin

Abstract:

Increased sedimentation, mainly due to erosion, plays a substantial role in contributing non-point source pollutants that have as ending point the sea water bodies. Factors such as increased agricultural activities, deforestation and wildfires result to excessive erosion rates.  At this study, preliminary results are presented on research that was conducted for the Aggitis Basin, located at the prefecture of Eastern Macedonia in Northern Greece. In order to identify the pollution sources, the study areas were selected based on land use characteristics, such as dominant vegetation, soil type and slope category. Specifically, the studied land uses were, rangeland, agricultural and natural areas of sclerophyllous and riparian vegetation. Based on erosion “pin-measurements”, the land use that contributed the least sedimentation were the areas with the riparian vegetation. On contrary, the rangeland, the agricultural as well as the areas with the sclerophyllous type of vegetation contributed the most pollutants. Consequently, specific land uses were more prone to increased levels of erosion (e.g., agricultural). So, those areas require further action, such as introduction of nature-based solutions in order to mitigate non-point source pollutants reaching the sea bodies

Biography:

Dr. Valasia Iakovoglou is a distinct graduate of Iowa State University, USA. She has more than 25-yrs of national/international research and teaching experience as an Ecophysiologist/Silviculture expert in seedling production and Restoration/Conservation of Ecosystems with emphasis on Biodiversity under the challenges of Climate Change. She has received numerous scholarships, awards and recognitions. She is an editor of ten international journals and a reviewer in more than fifteen with one of them being the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). She has more than 100 publications (such as books/book chapters and peer-reviewed scientific papers). She is active in many scientific societies such as the Mediterranean Experts of Climate and environmental Change (MedECC) and associations such as the “Association of Inter-Balkan Woman’s Cooperation Societies (AIWCS)” of UNESCO Center, where she serves as General Secretary Board Member. Since 2018 she is the Director of the Ecotourism Sector of the UNESCO chair Con-E-Ect.