Maria Panagiotopoulou is a forester - ornithologist, working as a freelancer and since 1986 she has been involved in research and protection of nature and especially wild birds. She has completed her postgraduate studies at the Department of Biology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) in the field of protected areas management and with a scholarship of the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) at the Department of Ecology of the University of Lund (Sweden) in the field of population and evolutionary ecology. She has been professionally involved in the demarcation of protected areas for avifauna and other protected species, participating in monitoring and management plans of protected areas, mainly in Northern Greece, but also in the Balkans. She has been a member of the Hellenic Ornithological Society since 1987 and was a member of its Board of Directors in the early 1990s. She was also a member of the organizing committee of the festival ‘Celebrations of the Earth’ (2001-2017) and a member of the editorial board of the magazine ‘Oicotopia’ since 1997. She is a founding member and president of the association OIKOTOPIA, which was (re)founded in 2021 and publishes the digital magazine of the same name (www.oikotopia2020.gr). She has published many scientific papers and articles in her field of expertise, as well as several articles with broader themes.