Nicolas Matsopoulos

Nicolas T. Matsopoulos has degrees in Shipbuilding (BEng), Natural Sciences (BSc), Science Communication (MSc) and in Education (MEd). His interest started as an amateur astronomer in early adolescence. During the period 1973 to1978 he worked as a volunteer observer at the Astronomical Institute of the National Observatory of Athens. In 1979 he joined its permanent staff observing variable and binary stars, the major planets and the Sun, in collaboration with the US Air Force personnel who run the Solar Observatory at the Penteli Astronomical Centre. Furthermore, he developed a deep interest in the History of Science and Science Communication. In 1995 he developed the Visitor Centre at Penteli Observatory, financed by EU funds. Since then, and until his retirement at the end of 2014, he was in charge of the Visitor Centre and dedicated himself to science communication. During this period he gave tours to about a quarter of a million visitors, hundreds of lectures all over the country, he established the first amateur astronomy society in Greece, and has produced several astronomical documentaries for the needs of the Visitor Centre and for local TV channels. He has written or co-written more than 270 articles, conference presentations and papers and eight books.