Giovanni Bearzi has been conducting research on Mediterranean dolphins since 1986, particularly in the Adriatic and Ionian Seas. He founded and directed for a decade a dolphin research and conservation programme in Croatia, that was awarded the “Henry Ford European Conservation Award” as best European project overall. Giovanni has always tried to combine his scientific work with public awareness and education to support marine conservation, and he has supervised a number of students and young researchers. He is a consultant for organizations such as ACCOBAMS and the IUCN. He holds a Ph.D. in Zoology at the University of Basel, Switzerland, with a thesis on Mediterranean coastal dolphins. Since 1990 he has been a Board Member of the Tethys Research Institute and in 2000 he became the President of Tethys. In 2001 he won a Pew Marine Conservation Fellowship. Between 2002-2006 he taught Cetacean Conservation as a contract professor at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Venice. Giovanni can speak Italian, English, some French and a few words of modern Greek.
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Joan Gonzalvo, has been collaborating with the Tethys Research Institute since 1999 and in 2007 he joined the Board of directors. Between years 2000 and 2005 he was member of GRUMM, the group for the study and conservation of marine mammals at the University of Barcelona, Spain. As a GRUMM collaborator he was involved in a study of interactions between bottlenose dolphins and fisheries funded by the Spanish Ministry for the Environment, and in a EU-funded project to assess bottlenose dolphin population size and conservation needs in the Balearic Islands. He was responsible for a bottlenose dolphin monitoring project in the Ebro river delta (north-eastern Spain) to evaluate the potential effects of the proposed construction of offshore wind farms. In 2006 he settled in Greece where he does year-round dolphin research in the Amvrakikos Gulf in the context of his Ph.D. with the University of Barcelona. Joan has lived for several years in London, where he earned his degree in Animal Biology. Joan can speak English, Catalan, Spanish, Italian and some Modern Greek.

Stefano Agazzi joined the Ionian Dolphin Project in 1999 and from that moment he started to get involved both in the organization and in the scientific aspects of the project. Since 2001 he is a member of the Tethys Board of directors. His area of expertise includes the feeding ecology of high-order predators, spatial analyses through GIS, population abundance studies through photographic mark-recapture, and database management. In 2005 and 2006 Stefano participated in the first systematic monitoring of cetaceans in the Strait of Messina, Italy. He is completing his Natural Sciences studies at the University of Milan, Italy, with a thesis on common dolphin feeding ecology based on the analysis of fish scales lost by prey. He is an emergency rescuer and a co-ordinator and trainer of emergency rescue teams. He holds a diving licence SSI and a nautical licence. Stefano can speak Italian, English and some modern Greek.

Annalise Petroselli holds a BSc and MSc (Hons) in Marine Biology and Oceanography. She has been collecting data on stranded cetaceans and conducting several necropsies for her thesis on heavy metals in Odontocete cetaceans stranded in the northern Adriatic Sea. Particularly interested in dolphin behaviour, Annalise was determined to follow this specific passion earning a MSc in Marine Mammal Science at the University of Bangor, Wales. In collaboration with Tethys she studied the habitat preferences and distribution of short-beaked common dolphins in relation to environmental parameters in the area of Kalamos (Greece). Annalise participated twice in Tethys' Mediterranean Fin Whale Project as a volunteer. She worked as a principal investigator in the Pelagian Isles Bottlenose Dolphin Project, being in charge of cetacean photo-identification and in the rescue operations of injured sea turtles at Lampedusa Island. She is actively involved in the First Aid rescue operations for Cetaceans PR.IN.CE. (Pronto Intervento Cetacei) in Italy and recently she rescued two Risso's dolphins in the port of Ancona. In 2005 she joined the Bottlenose Dolphin and Minke Whale Research and Marine Mammals Rescue Project (CRRU, Scotland) and in 2006 took part in an oceanographic cruise with the Venice Dolphin Project in collaboration with ISMAR.  She holds a PADI Open Water licence and an international nautical licence. Annalise is a native speaker of both Italian and English, and speaks some Spanish and modern Greek.

Silvia Bonizzoni got involved in the Ionian Dolphin Project in 2000, when she first participated in the programme as a volunteer. Realising that dolphin conservation was what she wanted to do in her life, she started working for Tethys with so much enthusiasm that she soon became a key member of the IDP team. She is in charge of bottlenose dolphin photo-identification catalogues for the areas of Kalamos, Amvrakikos Gulf and northern Adriatic Sea. She is also responsible for IDP database management. She took part in oceanographic cruises with the Venice Dolphin Project in collaboration with the Italian National Research Centre (CNR), and participated in surveys with the Los Angeles Dolphin Project in Southern California. Silvia is particularly interested in dolphin social organization. She is completing her studies in Environmental Sciences at the University of Venice, Italy. Silvia holds an international nautical licence and a diving certificate (CMAS, 2 stars). Silvia can speak Italian, English and some modern Greek.

Marina Costa, holds a degree in Biological Sciences and a Master's in Environmental Policy and Economy. She conducted studies on Posidonia oceanica with the Milan Civic Aquarium. She has been in charge of the field work with the Venice Dolphin Project, a Tethys project focusing on dolphins in the northern Adriatic Sea. She joined the Ionian Dolphin Project in 2003 and she is now one of the principal investigators of the project. She is also involved in common dolphin photo-identification work. In 2005 and 2006 she participated in a Tethys monitoring project on cetaceans in the Strait of Messina, Italy. In 2005 and 2006 she worked as principal field investigator with the Dolphin Habitat Conservation and Sustainable Use - a pilot research and management experience in the Egyptian Red Sea, where she was also in charge of training the rangers. She holds a PADI advanced diving licence and a nautical licence. Marina can speak Italian, French, English and some modern Greek.

Elena Politi, biologist, has collaborated with the Tethys Research Institute since 1991. Initially, she has been involved in data collection and analyses on dolphins in Croatia, in the context of the Ariatic Dolphin Project. In 1993 she founded the Ionian Dolphin Project, which she directed until 2003. Elena is actively involved in the management of Tethys as member of the Board of Directors and works as Tethys' Administrative Director. Elena has been involved in several research campaigns run by the Institute, including cetacean surveys in the Caribbean Sea, in the Canary Islands and in the former Spanish Sahara. She is currently based in Venice, where she does research on dolphins in the context of the Venice Dolphin Project. Elena can speak Italian, English and some modern Greek.

Chiara Piroddi is currently completing her MSc at the Fisheries Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver. Her thesis will be focused on the conservation of common dolphin and bottlenose dolphin communities and their interactions with local fisheries in the waters surrounding the island of Kalamos, Greece. She will be applying Ecopath with Ecosim, a computer-based ecosystem model, to examine and determine the status and trends of that marine ecosystem. She graduated at the University of Venice, Italy, with a thesis titled “Ecosystem approach to the study of bottlenose dolphins in the Amvrakikos Gulf, Greece”. Chiara has been consistently involved in the Ionian Dolphin project since the year 2000. She can speak Italian, English and some words of modern Greek.

Marcel Clusa studies Biological Sciences at the University of Barcelona, Spain. His interest in marine life started when he did a research project on cnidarian tissues, presented at a scientific conference in 2003. Since that moment, he decided that his life should be near the sea, learning about its amazing inhabitants. From 2005 he has attended several courses in marine biology and marine mammal biology and he also has been involved in a research project on Arthropod Biodiversity in Extremadura. Joining the IDP as research assistant in summer 2006, he discovered the importance of being involved in cetacean conservation actions. Marcel enjoys sharing new experiences with people from other cultures and he aims to pursue a career in marine mammal science. He can speak Catalan, English, Spanish and a little Italian.