Dr. Panagiotis Theodorou

Institute of Biology, General Zoology,

Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg

Halle (Saale), Germany

 

 

2019- ongoing: Research fellow at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Biology, General Zoology.

2018-2019: Research assistant at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Biology, General Zoology.

2013-2018: PhD in Biology at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, General Zoology.

2011-2012: Internship at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Institute of Biology, General Zoology.

​2008-2011: M.Sc. in Biology at University of Iceland, Department of Biology.

2010-2011: Udergraduate credit in preparation for psychology conversion, Sheffield Halam University, Faculty of Development & Society

2003-2008: B.Sc. in Biology at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, School of Biology.

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Acquired funds (PI)

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2023-2023: iDiv Flexpool (W470544118), “Diversity, composition and nutritional quality of bee pollen diets in cities” 12 months, consumables [€ 10,000] (total sum 10,000 €)

2022-2024: MLU BiodivFund (R02020830-30), “A landscape genomic study of wild bee responses to urbanisation in Saxony-Anhalt” 24 months, consumables [€ 83,664] (total sum 83,664 €)

2021-2025: German Research Foundation (DFG) (G021100863), “A comparative genomic approach of wild bee responses to urban ecosystems” 36 months, [personnel: 1 x 0.65 TV-L E13], consumables [€ 126,275] (total sum € 277,475)

2021-2025: MLU BiodivFund (R02020830-08), “Wild bee body size and wing fluctuating asymmetry as response traits to anthropogenic disturbance in agriculturally dominated landscapes in Saxony-Anhalt” 36 months, [personnel: 1 x 0.65 TV-L E13], consumables [€ 28,696] (total sum € 169,896)

2020-2023: German Research Foundation (DFG) (G021100729), “Genetic diversity as a surrogate for the provision of ecosystem services” 27 months, consumables [€ 66,583] (total sum € 66,583)

 

Acquired funds (Co-PI)

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2025-2025: iDiv Flexpool, “Urban biodiversity: assessing arthropod communities across urban gradients using novel molecular methods” 12 months, consumables [€9,994] (total sum 9,994 €)

2025-2027: iDiv Flexpool, “Thermal effects on male reproduction and their relevance for predicting population and distributional responses to heat waves - HotSperm” 24 months, [personnel: 1 x TV-L E13], consumables [€8,470] (total sum 104,000 €)

2024-2024: iDiv Flexpool, “bee PATHogens? Potential spread of pathogens at bee hotels in urban environments: iPATHOTELS” 12 months, consumables [€7,500] (total sum 7,500 €)

2021-2022: iDiv Flexpool, “iNTERACT: impacts of landscape structure, floral resources and land-use intensity on the health of beneficial arthropods in agroecosystems” 12 months, consumables [€ 10,000] (total sum 10,000 €)

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Co-supervised PhD students

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• Atilla Çelikgil "Urban bee comparative landscape genomics"

• Bilyana Stoykova "Bee trait responses to anthropogenic disturbances"

• Christopher Wild "Comparative landscape genomics"

• Lucie Baltz "Urban bee evolutionary ecology"

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Supervised BSc and MSc students

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• MSc Carolin Kremer on going "Population genetics of L. pauxillum along an urbanisation gradient"
• MSc Selina Friedel 2025 "Insect community structure along urbanisation gradients"
• BSc Lars Henzschel 2024 "The effects of urbanisation on parasitism and mortality of cavity nesting hymenoptera"
• BSc Pascal Krause 2024 "Bee pollen diet within the urban ecosystem"
• MSc Adrian Nemetschek 2023"Urban landscape effects on cavity nesting hymenoptera"
• MSc Alexandra Schmidt 2023 "Local resrouces and landscape effects on urban flying insect communities"
• BSc Jonathan Sänger 2023 "Cavity nesting hymenoptera whithin cities"
• MSc Benjamin Bischoff 2023 "The effects of cityscape on bumble bee parasite prevalence"

• BSc Julia Zelychenko 2022 "The effects of connectivity between nature conservation areas on trap nesting bees and wasps in the Günz valley"

• BSc Laura Fish 2022 "Environmental drivers of bubmle bee parasite prevalence across changing landscapes"

• MSc Atilla Çelikgil 2021 "Main environmental drivers of pathogen transmission in bumble bees"

• MSc Sophie Humpert 2021. "Main environmental drivers of bumble bee body size within the heterogeneous urban ecosystem"

• MSc Franziska Wenzel 2021. "The effects of local resources and urban land-use on bee diversity and pollination networks"

• MSc Lucie Baltz 2021. "Bombus terrestris colony health, foraging and energetic stress within the urban ecosystem"

• MSc Olga Kuehn 2021. "Bombus terrestris colony performance within the urban ecosystem"

• BSc Ozge Nase 2020. "Bee body size shifts over the last century in Saxony Anhalt, Germany

• MSc Wilhelm Osterman 2019. "Are Natura 2000 areas insect pollination hotspots?"

• MSc Janna Mrozek 2019. "Comparing plant–flower visitor networks and the ecosystem service of pollination in flowering plant rich Natura 2000 and nearby urban sites"

• MSc Christopher Wild 2018. "Evaluation of the performance of linear mixed models, ANCOVA and non-parametric statistical frameworks in the analysis of genetic diversity"

• MSc Sarah Herbst 2018. "Plant-flower visitor networks in urban habitats: a taxonomic versus a trait-based approach"

• MSc Karoline Albig 2015. "Local and landscape effects on plant-flower visitor networks in anthropogenic habitats"

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Supervised Erasmus+ students

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• BSc Başak Dinçer 2024

• BSc Duygu Akbulut 2024

• BSc Julienne de Vastey 2022

• BSc Kenan Akpinar 2019

• BSc Yasameen Koperly 2019

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​Teaching

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• 2024. Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme and the International Doctoral Summer School “Marcello La Greca” on Biodiversity. Lectures on Trait-Based Ecology. Taught for 1 year (8 hours). Covered introduction to trait-based ecology, response traits and ecological filtering, community-level traits, functional diversity, intraspecific vs. interspecific traits, traits and phylogenies. Designed course materials and assessments. University of Catania, Italy

• 2019-2025. BSc General Zoology module - Lectures on Community Ecology. Taught for 6 years (31.5 hours per year, total 189 hours). Covered species interactions, biodiversity, and ecosystem dynamics. Designed course materials, assessments, and engaged in student mentoring. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

• 2019-2025. MSc General Zoology module - Lectures on Community Ecology. Taught for 6 years (31.5 hours per year, total 189 hours). Covered species interactions, biodiversity, and ecosystem dynamics. Developed course content, created assessments and provided academic mentoring. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

• 2022-2025. MSc Research methods in Ecology module. Taught for 3 years (4.5 hours per year, total 13.5 hours). Covered research methods in ecology, how to design a scientific research project. Designed course materials, assessments, and engaged in student mentoring. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

• 2019-2025. BSc Zoology practicals, delivering hands-on training in animal anatomy and physiology. Served as lecturer and lab supervisor for 6 years (14.7 hours per year, total 88 hours). Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

• 2019-2025. Seminars and literature readings in Evolutionary Ecology of Insects. Served as lecturer and seminar leader, guiding discussions on insect adaptation, ecology and evolutionary theory (8.4 hours per year, total 50.4 hours). Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

• 2019-2025. Group Research Colloquium in General Zoology. Co-organised and lectured in a research colloquium on student-led zoology projects; provided mentoring and feedback on scientific presentations (8.4 hours per year, total 50.4 hours). Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

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Administrative experience (past 6 years)

 

• Project and Budget Management: Managed budgets and resource allocation for multiple national and international research projects (total funding >€600,000), including DFG-funded initiatives, ensuring efficient financial oversight, reporting, and compliance with institutional and funding-agency requirements.

• Teaching Administration: Led the design, coordination, and delivery of undergraduate and postgraduate courses in ecology, entomology, and biodiversity conservation; developed assessment frameworks, supervised teaching assistants, and oversaw student evaluation and grading.

• Academic Governance: Served on departmental and faculty committees, including recruitment and hiring panels for academic staff, curriculum development boards, and postgraduate admissions committees.

• Student and Researcher Mentorship: Oversaw student advising and supervision, providing academic and career guidance to over 20 MSc/BSc students and 4 PhD candidates; mentored postdoctoral and early-career researchers in research design, data management, and publishing strategies.

• Strategic Development: Contributed to the development of departmental research strategies and interdisciplinary initiatives linking ecology, evolution, and data science.

• Outreach and Representation: Represented the department in university-wide events, science communication initiatives, and collaborations with conservation agencies, and citizen-science networks.

 

Workshops

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• Barcoding workshop. iBarc, Leipzig, Germany (2022)

• Pollen diversity workshop. PolDiv, Leipzig, Germany (2019)

• Urban pollination SUPER-B workshop. Leiden, Netherlands (2018)

• Synthesis in the City: Urban Evolutionary Ecology Workshop. University of Toronto, Canada (2017)

• Frontiers of Speciation Research (FroSpects) Workshop, Evolution of divergence and speciation models of specific systems. Holar University College, Holar, Iceland (2010)

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Invited speaker

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• University of Ulm, Germany (2025)

• University of Prague, Czechia (2024)

• University of Lund, Sweden (2023)

• University of Göttingen, Germany (2023)

• University of Leipzig, Germany (2022)

• University of Würzburg, Germany (2019)

• University of Hamburg, Germany (2019)

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Conferences

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• iDiv Annual Conference, Halle, Germany (2025). “Landscape composition and community context as drivers of wild bee body size in agriculturally dominated landscapes” B. S. Wild, M. Frenzel, O. Schweiger, R. Paxton, P. Theodorou & A. Soro – Talk

• iDiv Annual Conference, Halle, Germany (2025). “Comparative landscape genetics of grassland insects reveals that ecotones and to a lesser degree landscape-scale meadow management, support genetic diversity in agricultural landscapes”. C. Wild, S. Hopfenmüller, B. Kahnt, R. Paxton, B. S. Wild, C. Schwarz, F. Fumy, P. Theodorou – Talk

• British Ecological Society (BES) Annual meeting, UK, Liverpool (2024). "Population genomics and body size shifts in the great banded furrow bee, Halictus scabiosae, within the urban ecosystem". L. Baltz, H. Gardein, F. Klaus, H. Greil, R. Paxton, P. Theodorou – Poster

• Annual meeting of the German Zoological Society (DZG), Stuttgart (2024). "Evolution in the Anthropocene: Bees and Urbanisation". P. Theodorou – Keynote speaker

• European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB), Bologna (2024). "The impact of urban development on diversity, performance and fitness of cavity-nesting Hymenoptera: insights from a large-scale citizen science project". P. Theodorou & A. Çelikgil – Invited speaker

• European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB), Bologna (2024). "Supporting insects in cities: A within-cityscape ecological systems approach to reveal the mechanistic processes that shape urban flying insect communities". A. Çelikgil & P. Theodorou – Talk

• Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ) conference, Leipzig (2023). "Effects of local environmental and landscape-scale factors on flying insect communities". A. Çelikgil & P. Theodorou – Talk

• European Congress of Conservation Biology (ECCB), Prague (2022). "Bumble bee colony health and performance vary widely across the urban ecosystem". P. Theodorou – Talk

• European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) conference, Prague (2022). "A population genomic approach of bumble bee responses to urban ecosystems". P. Theodorou – Talk

• European Bumblebee Conference (2021). "Bombus terrestris colony performance within the urban ecosystem". P. Theodorou – Invited speaker

• Entomolοgy congress Halle (2019). "Comparing pollinator communities, plant-flower visitor networks and the ecosystem service of pollination in flowering plant-rich Natura 2000 and nearby urban sites". J. Mrozek, W. Osterman, J. Osterman, M. Beckmann, R. J. Paxton, P. Theodorou – Talk

• Entomolοgy congress Halle (2019). "Body size shifts in bumblebee urban communities". A. Soro, P. Theodorou, L. Baltz, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• Entomolοgy congress Halle (2019). "How to bee diversity and floral diversity co-vary within the urban environment". P. Theodorou, S. Herbst, L. Baltz, P. Landaverde-González, J. Osterman, B. Kahnt, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• II Joint Congress on Evolutionary Biology – Montpellier (2018). "Adaptation to urbanisation in the red-tailed bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) as suggested by a genome-wide SNP scan". P. Theodorou, R. Radzevičiūtė, B. Kahnt, A. Soro, I. Grosse, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• XI International Symposium on Pollination (2018). "Flower-rich urban areas can act as bee pollination hotspots". P. Theodorou – Invited speaker

• XI International Symposium on Pollination (2018). "Oilseed rape effects on pollinator biodiversity and pollination service provision in apple orchards". J. Goss, P. Theodorou, R. Radzevicuite, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• Bienen AG Tagung, GE, Koblenz (2018). "How to best control for differences in microsatellite loci variability when comparing genetic diversity across populations". C. Wild, P. Theodorou, R. J. Paxton, A. Soro – Poster

• Bienen AG Tagung, GE, Koblenz (2018). "Virus prevalence of sympatric field samples of Apis mellifera and Bombus species". D. Panziera, P. Theodorou, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) conference, Groningen (2017). "Genome-wide SNP scan reveals patterns of adaptation to urbanization in an important pollinator, Bombus lapidarius". P. Theodorou, R. Radzevičiūtė, B. Kahnt, A. Soro, I.Grosse, R. J. Paxton – Poster

• British Ecological Society (BES) Annual meeting, UK, Liverpool (2016). "Insect pollinator diversity and the ecosystem service of pollination in changing landscapes". P. Theodorou, R. Radzevičiūtė, G. Lentendu, B. Kahnt, M. Husemann, T. Wubet, J. Settele, O. Schweiger, C. Bleidorn, I. Grosse, T. E. Murray, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• Ento’15: International Symposium of the Royal Entomological Society (Insect Ecosystem Services) Dublin, Ireland (2015). "Interrelationship between pollinator diversity, landscape heterogeneity and pollination service provision in German apple orchards". R. Radzevičiūtė, M. Schlegel, P. Theodorou, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ) conference, Göttingen (2015). "Plant-pollinator networks, bumblebee pathogens and pollination service provision in anthropogenic habitats". P. Theodorou, K. Albig, R. Radzevičiūtė, J. Settele, O. Schweiger, T. E. Murray, R. J. Paxton – Talk

• European Society for Evolutionary Biology (ESEB) conference, Lausanne (2015). "Mapping genetic and species diversity of pollinators to the ecosystem service of pollination across changing landscapes". P. Theodorou, J. Settele, C. Bleidorn, O. Schweiger, I. Grosse, T. E. Murray, R. J. Paxton – Poster

• Central European Meeting of the International Union for the Study of Social Insects (IUSSI), Lichtenfels, Germany (2015)."Interdependent parasite pressures on social bees". D. P. McMahon, M. E. Natsopoulou, M. A. Fürst, V. Doublet, P. Theodorou, J. Bryden, M. J. F. Brown, R. Paxton – Talk

• Hymenopterologen-Tagung, Stuttgart, Germany (2014). “Insights into the systematic relationships of a European fossorial bee species complex in the subgenus Hoplandrena”. M. Seidel, P. Theodorou, R. Paxton – Talk

• Bienen AG Tagung, Marburg, Germany (2014). “The impact of lactic acid bacteria on viral (DWV) and Microsporidian (Nosema ceranae) infections in the honey bee (Apis mellifera)” T. Disayathanoowat, D. McMahon, V. Doublet, P. Theodorou, T. Olofsson, A. Vásquez, R. Paxton – Talk

• BES Annual General Meeting, Birmingham, UK (2012). “Pollination service provision in Co. Armagh apple orchards.” L. McKendrick, T. E. Murray, P. Theodorou, S. MacAntSaoir, R. Paxton – Talk

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Graduate Courses

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• Bayesian Biostatistics. 25-26 January, 2016. iDiv Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany.

• Biodiversity and Niche Theory. 7-11 December, 2015.iDiv Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany.

• Applications of High-Throughput Sequencing in Biodiversity Research. April 2015. iDiv Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany.

• Research Communication Workshop. 24-26 February, 2015. iDiv Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany.

• Practical course on Next Generation Sequencing for population genetics and experimental evolution. 19-26 October, 2014. Vienna graduate school of population genetics (Vetmeduni Vienna), Austria.

• Biodiversity conservation. 22-25 September 2014. iDiv Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany.

• Modelling species distributions under climate change. 25-29 August, 2014. University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

• Applied statistics and data analysis (Julia statistical language, spatial temporal data, linear and nonlinear dimensionality reduction, time series). 18-20 November, 2013. IMPRS-gBGC. MPI for biochemistry in Jena, Germany.

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Molecular biology skills

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• DNA/RNA extraction, quantification and purification

• PCR, real-time RT-PCR

• NGS library preparation and DNA sequencing

• Metabarcoding

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Statistics

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• Regression/Logistic regression

• Analysis of variance/general linear modeling

• Generalized linear modeling (GLM)

• Generalized linear mixed modeling (GLMM)

• Multivariate analysis

• Structural Equation Modeling (SEM)

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​​Memberships

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• Urban Eco Evo network associate

• iDiv associate member

• European Society for Evolutionary Biology

• Genetics Society

• British Ecological Society

• Ecological Society of Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GfÖ)

• βιος-Society of Biological Sciences in Cyprus

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Other scientific activities

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• Secondment Researcher – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Project: Part of the MSCA-funded project “The effects of urbanization on insect diversity and human-nature interactions”, supporting the research of Olivia Sanllorente as a secondee.

• Member of the Editorial Board for the scientific journal Advances in Pollinator Research

• Member of the Editorial Board for the scientific journal Basic and Applied Ecology

• Former member of the Topic Board of the scientific journal Insects 

• Guest Editor for the special issue "Honeybees and wild bee health" in Insects 

• Reviewer

  • DFG (German Research Foundation)

  • Luxembourg National Research Fund (FNR)

  • Molecular Ecology

  • Functional Ecology

  • BMC Ecology

  • Biodiversity and Conservation

  • Biological Conservation

  • Ecological Applications

  • Sustainability

  • Journal of Insect Conservation

  • Landscape and Urban Planning

  • Urban Forestry and Urban Greening

  • Oecologia

  • Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment

  • Insects

  • Ecology and Evolutio