Professor Joseph Tzanopoulos is a landscape ecologist working on biodiversity conservation, using a landscape approach that integrates ecological, geographic and socio-economic aspects in order to monitor and assess the impacts of policy scenarios on biodiversity and rural areas.
Joseph’s academic background is interdisciplinary, with a BSc in Agricultural Sciences from the Agricultural University of Athens, a PhD in vegetation ecology from Imperial College London, and more than 20 years of research experience, collaborating with economists, sociologists and rural geographers on major national and European-funded research projects in the field of biodiversity conservation. Prior to his appointment at Kent, Joseph worked as research fellow at Wye College, Imperial College London, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Centre for Agri-Environmental Research (CAER) at the University of Reading.
Professor Joseph Tzanopoulos is a member of the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology.
Research interests
Landscape ecology
Reconciling biodiversity conservation and sustainable development on rural areas
Agricultural landscapes and rural geography Land-use change, landscape fragmentation and land-use modelling
Sustainability Assessment
Geographic Information System (GIS), remote sensing and spatial analysis
Environmental Social Science
Scenario analysis
Interdisciplinary analysis of drivers of change in complex land-use systems
Prof Tzanopoulos is interested in supervising students for projects related to his research interests as listed above.
Current PhD students
Christina Hiller: Conservation conflict: A hurdle for sustainable development in Southern Africa (main supervisor)
Luís Santiago: The value of sustainable use-protected areas for jaguar conservation (main supervisor)
Faye Whiley: The sustainability of a Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx reintroduction in Aberdeenshire (main supervisor)
Sophie O'Connor: Mother nature: an intersectional analysis of how gender impacts environmental engagement among Kentish farmers (main supervisor)
Past PhD students
Sally Marsh: Conserving natural beauty? AONB designation and landscape change in Kent and Sussex (1950’s – present) (main supervisor)
Nicola Abram: Designing a conservation corridor in an oil-palm-dominated landscape: applying an integrated, systematic conservation planning approach in Sabah, Borneo (main supervisor)
Lawrence Ball: The socio-ecological dynamics of overgrazing in the Dhofar Mountains of Oman (main supervisor)
Dimitrios Bormpoudakis: Green infrastructure and regional connectivity in Southeast England (main supervisor)
Valeria Boron: Conservation of medium-large mammals across agroecosystems in the neotropics (main supervisor)
Joana Viana Canelas: Indigenous contribution to ecological modelling for the assessment of ecosystem services (main supervisor)
Rowland Griffin: The impact of low-level agriculture on reptiles and amphibians within Laguna del Tigre National Park, Petén, Guatemala (co-supervisor)
Abraham Heinemann: Hunting: a multidimensional in-depth comparative study (co-supervisor)
Veronica Iniguez-Gallardo: Social perspectiveson climate change (main supervisor)
Vilma Kuuliala: Stakeholder views on coastal and marine protected areas: wilderness experience and participatory management in coastal Scotland (co-supervisor)
Robin Lines: Assessing landscape connectivity in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (main supervisor)
Peter Matthews: Sustainability performance of ecological approaches to farming at regional scale (main supervisor)
Gloria Bravo Monroy: Ecological and social drivers of coffee pollination in Santander, Colombia (co-supervisor)
Maria Cifre Sabater: Forest fires, social conflict and environmental management in the Mediterranean Protected Area of Serra De Tramuntana, Mallorca (co-supervisor)
Alicia Said: Crossroads at sea: the artisanal fisheries in Malta since EU accession (co-supervisor)
Niki Rust: Using incentives to improve predator-friendly behaviour to benefit rural farmers and carnivores in Namibia (co-supervisor)
Anthony Turner: Soundscape ecology (main supervisor)
Lindsey West: Community-based conservation as a relational process: a case study of marine turtle conservation in Tanzania (co-supervisor)
Nurulhuda Binti Zaharia: Assessing the status of amphibians in agricultural landscapes (co-supervisor)
