The Greek Summer School climbs the mountain, and jumps into the river

by Gábor Lövei

Sunday 3 July was excursion day in the intense program of the GSS. So, for an easy day out, we were driven to the village of Papingo, the spectacular location of several former GSSs, and from there, we followed the meandering but steep ascent from Mikropapingo to the mountain refuge on the Astraka Pass (1950 m a.s.l.). The climb lead us through the oak-hazelnut forest into the regions of the conifers, with numerous large trees of Juniperus foetidissima, then the subalpine bushes, and finally, the alpine meadows. This climb is never easy and the participants spread along the path, some looking for plants, others for birds or butterflies. There still were a few snow patches here and there at the higher sides of Mt. Timfi, and lots of the playful alpine coughs. After a rest and a mountain tea at the refuge, we returned to Papingo village to have an early dinner at the Pantheon restaurant before descending to the icy and crystal clear Voidomatis River for a quick bath. The river is considered the cleanest in Europe, and the EC Water Framework Directive has this river as the baseline in water quality. It seemed that it is not only the cleanest but also the coldest of the European rivers... For the coming second week, we do not mind to remain more sedentary.

GSS 2015 - From a student's point of view

During the Greek Summer School in Conservation Biology we attended an excursion to Papingo. After a short stop for a group picture under the huge plane tree near the church of Mikro Papigo (980 m a.s.l.), we started the hiking towards the Astraka Refuge (1950 m). At the beginning we were surrounded by dense oak forest, house for unexpected wonders: ancient buildings and beautiful orchids. However, very soon we left the shadow of the forest for the light of a wide open pasture. Step by step the track became harder but an amazing view opened up for us. From the top of the mountain pass we could see all the surrounding peaks and valleys, villages and unspoiled nature.

The discovery of new ecosystem types and unseen species along the latitudinal gradient gave us the chance to increase our knowledge as well as to gain a new and more complete perspective  about biodiversity patterns and distribution.

During the climb twelve people from different countries and cultures had the opportunity to share their own point of view on biodiversity conservation. Each one could talk about their experiences and issues, discovering other opinions, answers and advices.

But most of all, the direct contact with nature and returning to the basics offered us a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, real motivation to face the oncoming challenges.

The 2015 class of the SCB Greek Summer School on the terrace of the Astraka Refuge, Timfi Mountains. From left to right: Edy Fantinato, Alessandro Chiarucci, Giancarlo Torre, Martin Wiemers, John Halley, Gabor Lovei, Konstantinos Anestis, Nihal Kenar, Frank Weiser, Esther Bauman, Zoltan Elek (missing: Athanasios Kallimanis, Natasha Zorzaki)

GSS-2015

Biodiversity Theory and Practice. Zagori, Greece, 29^rd June - 10^th July, 2015

 

This school continues the series of Greek Summer Schools in Conservation Biology that began in 2008 but will be of a more quantitative nature and will focus on biodiversity. GSS-2015 will be under the aegis of the Society for Conservation Biology and of HELECOS. We aim to equip participants with an understanding of the principles of modern biodiversity theory and to teach practical skills for biodiversity fieldwork including sampling design and monitoring. Students will also learn how to use some of the main computer packages for biodiversity data analysis, mainly in the R programming environment. The duration is 12 days. The course is worth 6 ECTS and is aimed at graduate and postgraduate students; applicants with good quantitative skills are especially welcome. The fee of 700€ covers registration, food, accommodation and local transport. The number of participants is limited to 15. GSS-2015 will be held at the PALASE Field Station of the University of Ioannina in Ano Pedina. As familiarity with R is essential, we offer a special two-day refresher course (27^th-28^th June) prior to the start of the school for those wishing to ‘brush up’ on R. More information at the GSS website (gss.bat.uoi.gr).

 

Note: We are offering a number of places at a reduced (€200 instead of €700) fee. Applicants seeking such support should indicate this in their applications. Preference is given to applicants with economic difficulties. The British Ecological Society offers a number of travel grants for this course. More information.

(http://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/grants-awards/training-and-travel-grants/)

The second Erasmus-supported Greek Summer School in Conservation Biology Papingo, Greece, 26 July – 9 August 2011

On Saturday 26 July, 19 students from 7 European countries gathered in a lakeside restaurant in Ioannina, northern Greece, to start the second Erasmus-supported summer school in conservation biology. All arrived on time, and the bus trip in the dark has not prepared the team for the scenery that was to greet them on the first morning. As the first few days were mostly theoretical, it was not always easy to keep the class within four walls... the option to go and jump into the stream to hunt yellow-bellied toads (Bombina variegata) was enthusiastically received. The first round was not so productive, the upstream half-team catching most of the toads, and some of them from last year, but the second census a few days later yielded a more even distribution of toads up- vs. downstream of the bridge. The theoretical lessons on diversity, conservation, ecosystem services, etc. were peppered with excurions to the WWF visitors' Centre in the neighbouring Micropapingo (where we learned that the Centre leader's dog was poisoned just that morning, in "reward" to his dedication to the protection of bears in the area), to the crystal-clear Voidomatis River, and to the forests around the village to census birds.

The entrance to the Vikos

Mid-way through the course, the students put on a splendid dinner, with the (solid as well as liquid) specialities of their countries that was happily devoured by the teachers as well as the students themselves. An end-of-week excursion with geological curiosities (the national park became a member of the Geoparks Network in 2010), some frighteningly magnificient views of the Vikos River Gorge, and for some, horse-riding or whitewater rafting gave the necessary relaxation for more lectures and some intense project work during the second week.

Students had to design a small study, do field work, evaluate the results, and present them on the final day. Before that, physical endurance was put to the test during an alpine excursion – first up to the always-visible-from-the-village mountain pass refuge that proved to be further away thna in seemed from below, and beyond to the unique location of the Dragolimni ("Dragon Lake", named after the large population of the Alpine Newt Triturus alpestris). We enjoyed the clowning around of many Alpine Coughs (Pyrrhocorax gracilis) and the magnificient scenery (while nursing aching muscles, blisters and general fatigue, and envying our guide Haritakis, who showed nothing of those, even if he did the same "walk", up AND down, the day before, in rain, with a group of American tourists...). Some students declared that the end-of-the-road, small village of our residence was, in reality, all the civilisation they craved...

All teams worked on their projects enthusiastically, and presented the results in a convincing manner, and all of them passed the course with flying colours (and good grades). The topics of student projects ranged from a standard census of birds in the neighbouring area to the use of plasticine caterpillars to assess predation rates in village gardens vs. forest edges.

Toad-hunting in the creek
While there, we heard that the previous year's students from the UK went on to get surprisingly high grades in their following year. So the course has proven itself to give inspiration for students – and one cannot really expect more.

The trainers' team is looking forward to the 2012 course with renewed enthusiasm.

We thank the local organisers and participants for their enthusiastic help and dedication, especially Vana Lakka, Haritakis and Jorgos Papaioanniou, and Jorgos Yfantis.

Gabor Lövei

Greek Summer School 2011 ready to start

The application and selection process for the 2011 Greek Summer School has finished, and the accepted participants have been notified.

The fifteen Erasmus-supported students are from the five participating universities (the host University of Ioannina, and, from north-to-south: Aarhus University (Denmark), the Universities of Cumbria (UK), Hohenheim (Germany) and Siena (Italy). The three additional SCB fellowships were awarded to students from Portugal, Poland and Greece.

Several current or former SCB Europe Directors are among the trainers: Vassiliki (Kiki) Kati is the overall co-ordinator, Andrew Ramsey, Martin Dietrich and Gabor Lovei are core teachers, with John Halley, and Panayotis Dimopoulos. Alessandro Chiarucci (Siena) will teach the first time. The team will be ably assisted by local biologists Haritakis Papaioannou, Maria Noidou, and Giorgos Yfantis.

The participants will stay in the picturesque mountain village of Papingo, literally at the (upper) end of the road, nestling under a spectacular mountain wall, and near the deepest canyon in Europe in the Pindos National Park in northern Greece. During the two weeks, starting on 26 June, they will be exposed to a mixture of theoretical lessons, exercises, field demonstrations, excursions and have to do a field mini-project - not to mention to get to know each other and some Greek culture. We hope to convince them to provide "notes-from-the-field" for the Blog, with photos, so visit back between 27 June and 10 July!

Gabor Lovei & Kiki Kati

(In the picture: Participants of the 2010 Summer School on the alpine tour in the Pindos National Park)