Maria Protopapa is a Research Assistant in the Institute of Oceanography of HCMR since 2015. She holds a  Ph. D. in Marine Biology, a M. Sc. in Biological Oceanography and a B. Sc. in Marine Sciences. Her research interests involve mesozooplankton ecology in marine environments, taxonomy of mesozooplankton, the trophic role of zooplankton in marine food webs, isotopes and biochemical indices (ETS, AaRs) on zooplankton, field/laboratory work, mesocosm experiments, experiments on biofouling and toxicity experiments (plankton, fish cells and human cells). She has published nine (9) peer-review scientific articles and participated in twelve (12) research projects.