Dr. Chris Smith is a Director of Research at the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research and has been working in Greece since 1988. He is a benthic ecologist by training, working on marine ecology/ecosystems and habitats, fisheries-environment interactions, invertebrate fisheries and is an underwater imaging technologies expert. He has also been recently involved in social science studies including marine policy, governance and stakeholder perceptions. He has been principal investigator in recent EU Projects MERCES, AFRIMED, DEVOTES, BENTHIS, MEECE, CoralFISH, SuSy, Mediseh. He has been also involved in ICES working groups including BEWG, Nephrops video assessment, BEDPRESS/BEDLOSS, WKTRADE and WKFBIT. He is responsible for the HCMR ROV systems including the 2000 m Max Rover, supporting research and services including first response to maritime disaster. He is co-responsible in Greece for D6 seafloor integrity work within the EU MSFD. He has co-authored 80+ peer-reviewed international publications and book chapters and has 4500+ citations (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=mCu06scAAAAJ&hl=en).