As an academic, I lead inter- and trans-disciplinary teams in an effort to make bold quantitative contributions, ideally with early and lasting impact, to grand global challenges of our times, focused on preventing plastic pollution from solid waste, enabling a wider circular economy and resources recovery - and supporting a Just Transition for informal recyclers across the Global South.

I recently chaired the Community of Practice (CoP) on Harmonisation of Plastic Pollution Quantification Models and Methodologies, mandated by the UN Environment and specifically administered by the GPML (2021-2024). I service in the CIWM Policy and Innovation Forum, a strategic body, exploring and steering the outlook of our sector. Between 2016-2022, I led the ISWA Task Force on Marine Litter, established by the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) to prevent plastics pollution from mismanaged solid waste in the Global South. My research team led or substantially contributed to the development of a suite of models to quantify plastics pollution (P2O, WFD, ISWA Plastic Pollution Calculator, SPOT, PLAST) and the landmark OECD Global Plastics Outlook. My team's plastic pollution research in published in leading journals is further explained often in The Conversation – and featuring in the news – for example, in the BBC.

Published in Nature, Science, The Lancet, Environmental Science & Technology, Journal of Hazardous Materials, and relevant journals, I service the academic community as Editor-in-Chief of Waste Management & Research (2019 onwards), in the Editorial Board of Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, and was recently appointed as Specialty Chief Editor for Waste Management for Frontiers In Sustainability; by regularly peer-reviewing for e.g. Science, Environmental Science & Technology, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Journal of Cleaner Production, Waste Management, Science of the Total Environment, Habitat International); and via research assessment panels. Being a Chartered Waste Manager and registered with relevant professional bodies (CIWM, Institute of Physics). I was recently elected in the in the Steering Committee of the Scientists' Coalition for an Effective Plastic Treaty.

My expertise in waste and resources management comes with invitations to chair conference sessions and to participate in numerous scientific committees. I often travel around the world for research projects and to deliver keynote/ invited lectures (e.g. New York, Singapore, Buenos Aires, Vienna, Copenhagen, Munich, Geneva, Luanda, Athens). I was honoured to be a core author team member for the prestigious first Global Waste Management Outlook commissioned by UNEP, chaired the Waste Atlas database Scientific Committee, and having been coordinating member of numerous Task Forces of the International Solid Waste Association (ISWA) (e.g. Globalisation and Waste Management; Resources Management). I actively contributed to the ad-hoc group contributing to the methodological protocol for the SDG 11.6.1 target. The global waste management and plastic pollution model SPOT has provided the very first global estimate of this indicator, included in the official 2022 UN SDGs reporting.

Prior to joining Imperial College London in 2024, I was based at University of Leeds since 2012, where I pioneered the circular economy across the university, setting up the Circular Economy & Resource Recovery (CERRY) network. Earlier, for two years, I was Research Associate in Resource Recovery at Imperial. I obtained a PhD in Environmental Engineering from the Centre for Energy and Resource Technology, Cranfield University. In this applied research, I contributed to the understanding of material flows through mechanical-biological treatment plants (MBT) for the production of quality assured solid recovered fuel (SRF). I hold an MSc from Imperial College London in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Development, where I investigated the informal recycling systems in developing countries (waste pikers) and the birth of modern solid waste management in Victorian Britain, and receiving also the award for Best Sustainable Project Design Guide: 'Sustainable Landfill.' My BSc studies were in physics at the University of Athens, the most historic academic institution in Greece, with a major in Environmental Physics, researching the evolution of urban air pollution and the effectiveness of control measures in Athens from 1980 to 2000.