The Zakynthos Turtles team

The Zakynthos Turtles team

Professional Photo Kostas Underwater Photo Kostas

Kostas Papafitsoros

Kostas is an applied mathematician, a sea turtle researcher and an underwater photographer. He is currently an assistant professor in Queen Mary University of London, UK. He first visited Zakynthos to work as a volunteer with ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece in 2007. He has accumulated an in-depth knowledge of the sea turtles of Zakynthos through more than 14 years of in-water observations. He has the been the co-author of 11 scientific publications about the sea turtles of Zakynthos and he is regularly presenting his sea turtle research in international conferences.

Kostas' personal webpage
Professional Photo Vincent Underwater Photo Vincent

Vincent Tarrit

Vincent is a talented web and app developer with a special passion for sea turtle conservation and photo-identification. He first got involved with it in 2019, volunteering with ARCHELON in Zakynthos and he has been returning to the island ever since. He is committed to using his coding skills for the common good and in particular, to raise awareness about the sea turtles of Zakynthos.

Vincent's personal webpage
Professional Photo Lukas Underwater Photo Lukas

Lukáš Adam

Lukas is an applied mathematician, a data scientist and an expert in Artificial Intelligence (AI). He visited Zakynthos in 2017 to volunteer for ARCHELON and he fell in love with the island and its sea turtles. He is currently developing AI tools for automatic sea turtle identification as well as tools to measure tourist pressure on the sea turtles of Zakynthos via social media data.

Professional Photo Galini Underwater Photo Galini

Galini Samlidou

Galini is a conservation biologist and has experience in managing some of the most important sea turtle conservation projects in the Mediterranean (ARCHELON’s projects in Kyparissia Bay, Zakynthos, Peloponnese and Crete). She first visited Zakynthos in 2020 and she has been returning ever since. She is passionate about the sea turtles of Zakynthos with a special interest in their welfare. She is a keen snorkeller, underwater photographer and photo-identification enthusiast.


The project has the support of: ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece and MEDASSET, Mediterranean Association to Save the Sea Turtles. The project is funded by Queen Mary University of London, as well as by the British Chelonia Group.

Gail Schofield (1975-2023) was greatly involved in the initial planning of this project. Gail pioneered the in-water sea turtle research in Zakynthos in the early 00’s when she also initiated the photo-identification program. She was expert in every aspect of the biology and ecology of the sea turtles of Zakynthos. We will always be guided by her scientific achievements, insights and enthusiasm.