George P. Karatzas
Professor, Soil pollution and remediation 

Geoenvironmental Engineering Laboratory
Division IV: Environmental Hydraulics & Coastal and Geoenvironmental Engineering

Extended CV (pdf)

Contact

Education

  • 1994: Post-doc in Research Center for Groundwater Remediation Design), University of Vermont, USA
  • 1992: Ph.D., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rutgers University, USA
  • 1987: M.Sc., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rutgers University, USA
  • 1985: B.Sc., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rutgers University, USA
  • 1982: Degree in Forestry and Natural Environment, Aristotle Univesity of Thessaloniki.

Research Interests

Conducting research in the following research areas:

  • Water resources
  • Groundwater flow and transport of pollutants
  • Underground hydraulics - Drilling
  •  Simulation models for groundwater flow and pollutant transport
  • Combination of optimization methods and simulation models for the optimal design of groundwater management plans (qualitative and quantitative).
  • Seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers. Karstic aquifers
  • Application of Neural Networks and genetic algorithms in groundwater management problems
  • Simulation models for surface flow. Modeling of flooding events and assessment of flood damage

Participation in Research Programs and Projects

  • Principal Investigator: InTheMED – Innovative and Sustainable Groundwater Management in the Mediterranean, PRIMA SECTION 1, 2020 - 2023, 220.000 €.
  • Principal Investigator and Coordinator: Sustain–COAST – Sustainable management and pollution reduction through innovative governance in a changing climate, PRIMA SECTION 2, 2019 - 2022, 290.000 €.
  • Principal Investigator: ERMIS-F: Web services for environmental risk– Floods.  Funding: Interreg V-A Greece - Cyprus,  2017-2020, 220.000 €.
  • Principal Investigator: Multi-objective Optimization of Cosolvent Flushing of NAPLs from Contaminated Groundwater. Funding: General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs of Greece, Bilateral R & T Cooperation between Greece-Turkey 2013-2014, National Action “ Bilateral, Multilateral and Regional R & T Partnerships”, 2013-2015, 26.200 €.
  • Principal Investigator: Chromium in Asopos Groundwater System: Remediation Technologies and Measures (CHARM) (Coordinator Technical University of Athens), Funded by LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance 2010, (2011-2015), 2,708,267 €.

Distinctions and Awards

  • 2014: Outstanding Teaching Award 2014, Technical University of Crete                                  
  • 2012 – 2014: Ministry of Education, Italy - Member of the National Committtee for the evaluation of Associate and Full Professors in the fields of Hydraulics -Hydrology and Hydraulics and Marine Works. 08/A1 – IDRAULICA, IDROLOGIA, COSTRUZIONI IDRAULICHE E MARITTIME
  • 2003–today: Recognision and adoption of the optimization method: «Outer Approximation Method» by FRTR (Federal Remediation Technologies Roundtable) which includes the following services of the US: U.S Department of Defence, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of the Interior and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration).
  • 2003-today: Member of the Hydrological Sciences Committee, Sub-Division on Groundwater, European Geosciences Union (EGU).
  • 1999: Recognition and adoption of optimization algorithm for the optimal design of groundwater management plans from EPA –USA, EPA/542/R-99/011B, ‘Hydraulic Optimization Demonstration for Groundwater Pump-and-Treat Systems, Volume II: Application of Hydraulic Optimization’, Dec. 1999.

Recent Publications

  • Morianou, G., V. Ziogas, N.N. Kourgialas, and  G.P. Karatzas, “Effect of irrigation practices upon yield and fruit quality of four grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Mac.) cultivars”, Water Supply, Vol. 21(6), 2735-2747, 2021.
  • Varouchakis, E.A., Hristopulos, D.T., Karatzas, G.P., Perez, G.A.C., Diaz, V., “Spatiotemporal geostatistical analysis of precipitation combining ground and satellite observations”, Hydrology Research , Vol. 52(3), 804-820, 2021.
  • Tapoglou, E., E.A Varouchakis, I.C. Trichakis, G.P. Karatzas, “Hydraylic head uncertainty estimations of a complex artificial intelligence model using multiple methodologies”, Journal of Hydroinformatics, Vol. 22(1) , 205-218, 2020.
  • Varouchakis E.M., P.G. Theodoridou, and G.P. Karatzas, “Decision-making tool for groundwater level spatial distribution and risk assessment geostatistics in R”, Journal of Hazardous, Toxic, and Radioactive Waste, Vol. 24(1), Article number 04019031, 2020.
  • Varouchakis E.A., K. Yetilmezsoy and G.P. Karatzas, “A decision-making framework for sustainable management of groundwater resources under uncertainty: combination of Bayesian risk approach and statistical tools”, Water Policy, Vol. 21, 602-622, 2019.
  • Varouchakis E.M., P.G. Theodoridou, and G.P. Karatzas, “Spatiotemporal geostatistical modeling of groundwater levels under a Bayesian framework using means of physical background”, Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 575, 487-498, 2019.
  • Lilli, M.A., N.P. Nikolaidis, G.P. Karatzas, N. Kalogerakis, “Identifying the controlling mechanism of geogenic origin chromium release in soils”, Journal of Hazardous Materials, Vol. 366, 169-176, 2019.
  • Siaka M., Z. Dokou and G.P. Karatzas, “Management of the saltwater intrusion phenomenon in the alluvial aquifer of Katapola, Amorgos, Greece”, Water Science and Technology: Water Supply, Vol. 18(3), 936-949, 2018.
  • Varouchakis, E.A., G.A Corzo, G.P. Karatzas, and A. Koutsopoulou, “Spatio-temporal analysis of annual rainfall in Crete, Greece”, Acta Geophysica, Vol. 66, 319-328, doi.org/10.1007/s11600-018-0128-z, 2018.
  • Morianou G.G., N.N. Kourgialas, G.P. Karatzas, and N.P. Nikolaidis, “Assesing hydro-morphological changes in Mediterranean stream using curvilinear grid modeling approach – climate change impacts”, Earth Science Informatics, Vol. 11(2), 205-2016, 2018.

Ph.D. Candidates

  • Ioanna Anyfanti
  • Chris Goumas
  • Giasemi Morianou
  • Panagiota Theodoridou
  • Christina Stylianoudaki