Scientific Committee

The Scientific Committee of the European Orchid Conference and Show 2027 brings together internationally recognised academics and researchers in orchid science and related fields.

The Committee contributes to the development of the scientific programme, supporting the selection of speakers and topics and ensuring the scientific quality and international scope of the Conference

Prof. Pierdomenico Perata

Full Professor of Plant Physiology, Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies,
Italy.

Professor of Plant Physiology at Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies in Pisa (Italy), where he served as Rector from 2013 to 2019. He is a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei. His research interests include hypoxia physiology, sugar sensing and signaling, iodine physiology, and, more recently, exogenous RNA signaling. He previously served as President of the Italian Society of Plant Biology and is currently President of the International Society for Plant Low Oxygen Research. He has authored over 190 scientific publications in leading journals, including Nature, Science, Nature Communications, Nature Plants, PNAS, Molecular Plant, The Plant Cell, Plant Physiology, The Plant Journal, Plant Communications and Trends in Plant Science, among others.

Dr. Antonio Pica

Scientific Director of the Italian Group for Research on Wild Orchids (GIROS APS),
Italy.

Botanist and researcher. He earned his Ph.D. in Ecology and Sustainable Management of Environmental Resources, investigating the ecological and environmental factors influencing the distribution of forest orchids. He serves as a Board Member and Scientific Director of GIROS (Italian Group for Research on Wild Orchids), contributing to orchid research, scientific outreach, and initiatives dedicated to the conservation of wild orchids. He is a member of the Scientific Board of the journal GIROS – European Native Orchids. His research focuses on the ecology, distribution, and conservation of Orchidaceae, with particular emphasis on forest orchids and the environmental factors influencing their occurrence and distribution.

Dr. Dario Ugolini

Orchid grower and author specialising in orchid cultivation,
Italy.

A retired thoracic surgeon, he has been passionate about tropical orchids in all their aspects since 1995. He currently grows a diverse, medium-sized collection, consisting mainly of botanical species, in his greenhouse. He has authored several orchid-related articles for the journal Caesiana. He has received various awards and recognitions in Italy and abroad. He is a member and board councillor of the Italian Orchidology Association and an honorary member of the Lazio Orchids Association.

Dr. Monika Lipińska

Researcher, Faculty of Biology University of Gdańsk,
Poland.

Dr. Adam P. Karremans

Botanist and Director of the Lankester Botanical Garden,
Costa Rica.

Dr. Adam P. Karremans is a botanist and orchidologist based at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), where he serves as Full Professor in the School of Biology and Director of the Lankester Botanical Garden Research Center. He earned his Ph.D. in Plant Sciences from Leiden University in the Netherlands. His research focuses on systematics, phylogenetics, taxonomy, and pollination biology of Neotropical Orchidaceae, especially on the mega-diverse subtribe Pleurothallidinae as well as the genus Vanilla. He has authored over a hundred scientific papers, described dozens of new orchid species, and the books such as Pleurothallids Neotropical Jewels and Demystifying Orchid Pollination. He has served in national and international biodiversity commissions, organized major botanical conferences, and promoted initiatives to preserve botanical literature and document Neotropical biodiversity.

Dr. Oscar Alejandro Pérez Escobar

Research Group Leader and Sainsbury Orchid Fellow, Royal Botanic Gardens,
United Kingdom.

Dr. Raymond L. Tremblay

Professor and researcher, Department of Biology at the University of Puerto Rico,
United States.

Raymond L. Tremblay is a biologist specializing in botany, orchid ecology and plant conservation. He served for many years as a professor of biology at the University of Puerto Rico and has published more than 100 papers. He is a specialist in assessing the viability and persistence of endangered species, with particular attention to small and fragmented orchid populations. His work also covers orchid population dynamics, phenotypic selection on floral traits, and quantitative methods in conservation biology. Throughout his career he trained students in botany, ecological modelling and statistical analysis. He co-authors R packages for ecological and demographic analysis and is the author of the open online book Dinámica Poblacional, a Spanish-language resource on population ecology. His participation in EOC 2027 reflects a long-standing interest in orchid biology and conservation.

Dr. Martha Charitonidou

Co-Chair of the IUCN SSC Orchid Specialist Group and researcher, Department of Biological Applications and Technology University of Ioannina,
Greece.

Sign up for the newsletter

Where to Find Us

MUSEUM OF THE BOTANICAL GARDEN OF ROME
LARGO CRISTINA DI SVEZIA, 23A – 24
(TRASTEVERE DISTRICT)

Maps of EOC European Orchid Conference & Show Rome 2027