Dr. Katerina Sevastou is a marine biologist with sound background on benthic ecosystems, experimental design and environmental impact assessment and monitoring. Her expertise on meio- and macro- benthic technique analyses and taxonomy is combined with very strong skills in  data analysis and biodiversity estimation. Resourceful with excellent communication skills, she has extensive experience in field surveys, data processing and reporting of multi-task projects.
She graduated from the University of Crete, Department of Biology in June 1996, where her early focus on marine biology led to an Msc (March 1999) and a PhD in Marine Ecology (May 2005). Since 2010, she is employed as an Associate Researcher at HCMR and over the last couple of decades she has been involved in a wide variety of national and international research projects (e.g., CINCS, MEDPOL, MERAMED, ECASA, BIOFUN, MANUELA, HERMIONE, ReDEco, AegeanMarTech, DEVOTES, LEVECO, MERCES, MSFD implementation, EFFECTIVE), most of which were funded by the EU. She has participated in over 20 oceanographic expeditions and field surveys with a variety of research vessels, and she has acted as chief scientist in several coastal surveys.
Her main research interests range within the field of marine ecology, from patterns and scales of marine biodiversity (from the shores to the deep sea), to the effects of anthropogenic and climate impacts on the marine environment, including social aspects. Most of her research focuses on benthic ecosystems in the Mediterranean, with emphasis on biodiversity patterns of meiofauna metazoans.
She has taught classes at the University of Crete and she has assisted in the supervision of MSc and PhD theses. She has been key organizer of several national and international scientific events, and member of the Editorial Board of PSAMMONALIA, the Newsletter of the International Association of Meiobenthologists, for the period 2010-2013. She is a member of the International Association of Meiobenthologists and the Deep-Sea Biology Society. 
Dr. Sevastou has authored and co-authored more than 30 papers in peer-reviewed international journals and conference proceedings, 3 book chapters, and more than 30 oral and poster presentations in international conferences.