Staff
Despina Symons Pirovolidou
Director
Despina Symons-Pirovolidou, of Greek origin, has been Director and founding Member of the European Bureau for Conservation and Development (EBCD) since its establishment in 1989. At European level, Despina has been linking the conservation and the scientific communities as well as the private sector to the EU policy makers providing them with expert strategic advice for over twenty years. Furthermore, she has been working closely with several UN bodies such as FAO, CITES, CBD and others. Despina has been active in IUCN and more particularly in its Marine Programme and the European one. She is Member of the Executive Committee of the IUCN/SSC European Sustainable Use Specialist Group and Coordinator of its Fisheries Working Group. She is also the founding member and coordinator of the recently established Fisheries Expert Group (FEG) of the IUCN Commission of Ecosystem Management (CEM). Prior to joining EBCD, Despina worked on fisheries related issues in Madrid (Spain) where she represented the Spanish coastal fishermen to the EU and before that she worked in Canada as a free lance translator for the Secretary of State of Canada.
Panos Manias
Finance and Administrative Manager
Panos joined EBCD in February 2017. Before joining our team, he was working as a Finance Officer in an international NGO based in Lisbon, Portugal. He started his career as accountant for a multinational company, where after a few years, he was moved to the internal audit team where he was performing cash reconciliations and risk management.
Panos holds a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from the University of West Attica and a Masters’ degree in Project Management from the City University of Seattle. He also holds an executive MBA degree from Solvay Brussels School.
Ilias Grampas
EU Affairs Manager
Currently managing the European Parliament Intergroup on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development”., Ilias joined EBCD in March 2018.
Prior to that, he was working in EU Affairs and Communication for a pharmaceutical association in Brussels, moreover as a Communications Executive in Greece. Well-experienced in developing and executing strategic advocacy & outreach, Ilias also holds an MSc in Crisis and Security Management from Leiden University, Netherlands, alongside a BA in International & EU Affairs from University of Macedonia, Greece.
Throughout the years, he has received The Good Lobby 3rd place Award as ‘Political Representative of the Year’ (2019), CV Magazine ‘Best Environmental NGO in Belgium’ Award (2019), The Webby Awards ‘People’s Voice Award for Green Website’ (2017), and International Public Relations Association Golden World Award for ‘Crisis Management’ (2016).
Regine Roncucci
EU Affairs Officer
Regine joined EBCD in August 2020 working as EU Affairs Officer for the European Parliament Intergroup on “Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development”.
Regine holds a master in Environmental Policy at Wageningen University & Research and a bachelor in Life Sciences from Paris Descartes University. Prior to EBCD, Regine worked as an intern in the communication department of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) in Rotterdam and at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) as policy and partnership building intern in Brussels. Passionate of social and environmental justice, Regine developed a master thesis on Rights of Nature in Colombia and actively contributed to the development of environmental youth groups in the Netherlands. Regine is fluent in English, French and Italian and has intermediate working level of Spanish.
Pedro Reis Santos
Secretary General – Market Advisory Council
On July 2019, Pedro was appointed Secretary General of the Market Advisory, a stakeholder-led organisation that provides recommendations on the EU market of fishery and aquaculture products to the European Commission and EU Member States.
Previously, Pedro worked as a consultant for a Brussels-based business intelligence service monitoring EU development on fisheries, agriculture, food, animal welfare, alcohol and tobacco policy. Before that, he was a trainee at the Fisheries Unit of the Council of the European Union and a trainee at the Control Unit of the Portuguese Fisheries Authority.
Pedro has a Law degree and a Masters on International Law and International Relations from the University of Lisbon with a thesis titled “Marine Protected Areas beyond National Jurisdiction”. Besides his first language, Portuguese, he speaks English and Spanish. He also learnt Japanese for four years.
Jacopo Pasquero
International Affairs Assistant
Jacopo joined EBCD in November 2019, assisting the Secretariat of the IUCN Fisheries Expert Group. Prior to that, he worked as an intern at the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and was in the Italian youth delegation to the 2019 G7 Summit. During his studies, he also led the organization of a youth initiative on the implementation of SDG 2 Zero Hunger and took part in a consultancy project on seafood sustainability.
Jacopo holds a master’s degree in Environmental Sciences from Wageningen University & Research and a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from the University of Trieste. He is passionate about multilateralism and global politics in relation to biodiversity, oceans, climate, food, and science. He is fluent in English and Italian, has good working knowledge of Spanish and speaks basic French.
Stavroula Kremmydiotou
Fisheries Policy Officer
Stavroula is a qualified lawyer who joined EBCD in June 2020. As a fisheries policy officer, her key responsibilities include monitoring EU developments on fisheries and the marine environment in general.
Prior to that, she completed a Blue Book traineeship in the European Commission’s DG MARE, where she carried out policy and legal related activities in the area of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing. She also worked as a project support intern at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Sri Lanka, focusing on capacity-building responses to combat maritime crime. Stavroula holds a law degree from the Democritus University of Thrace, Greece and an LLM in international law from the University of Bristol, UK. She is fluent in English and Greek and has working knowledge of German and Spanish.