Dr. Eleftheria Klontza obtained her bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences in 1997 from the Department of Environment of the University of Aegean, Greece. She continued with postgraduate studies in the field of Environmental Engineering at the Department of Environmental Engineering at the Technical University of Crete (Greece). She obtained her master’s degree in 1999 and her PhD degree in September 2010 from the same institution. The subject of her PhD thesis was the quantitative determination of non-ionic surface-active compounds such as, nonylphenol polyethoxylates in municipal wastewaters and the study of their oxidative degradation using ozonation and photocatalysis.
She has extensive experience in the use of Solid Phase Microextraction (SPME) for the development of analytical protocols for the quantitative determination of organic pollutants in environmental samples and the use of chromatographic techniques for the separation and quantification of organic compounds in environmental samples, such as HPLC, GC/MS, and LC/MS. Her research interests also include the use of advanced oxidation processes, such as ozonation and photocatalytic oxidation for the treatment of wastewater effluents and the decomposition of organic compounds, solid waste management and waste valorisation and reuse. During her research activity, she has published three articles in international scientific journals and 10 in international conference proceedings.
She has worked as lab course tutor from 2000 until 2009 for 18 semesters at the Department of Natural Resources Engineering of the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, (Branch of Chania), teaching laboratory introductory courses in General Chemistry at undergraduate level. Her teaching experience also involves lab courses at the Laboratory of Environmental Engineering and Management at the Technical University of Crete, related to chemical and physical processes for water and wastewater treatment (2003-2005). Since 2016 she collaborates with the Hellenic Open University, supervising postgraduate students of the Postgraduate Programme “Waste Management”.
Since 2013, she is an administrator of Global NEST Journal, a member of the Organising Committee of the International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (CEST) and a research associate at Waste Management at the University of the Aegean.