Małgorzata Nosiadek: Hello, I am really excited to meet you and thank
you so, so much for agreeing to do the interview.
Eirini Kasimati: It’s my pleasure, thank you for your interest. Hopefully
through the article the volunteer rate will increase (laughs).
Firstly, tell us something about yourself: what is your job at ARCHELON,
why did you chose this place, maybe something about your educational
background?
I am a wildlife biologist. I studied biology here, in Greece. Then I did my
master’s degree in wild animal biology at the Royal Veterinary College in
association with the Zoological Society of London in the UK. Actually, I started
as a volunteer, here at the ARCHELON’s Rescue Center. It’s been more than
five years now. I gained a lot of experience as a volunteer, and later on the
job opportunity appeared so I’ve been the Rescue&Rehabilitation Officer for
the past three and half years now. Through the degrees that I did and some
voluntary work I gained a lot of experience with other species as well. Now
my main focus are the sea turtles at the Rescue Center.
It’s very fascinating. So, you started as a volunteer? You didn’t think of
getting a job at first?
No, not at all. You see, I wanted to gain experience as volunteering is really,
really important. I started as a part-time volunteer. We are accepting full-time
volunteers from abroad and part-time volunteers from here. I was Greek so
when I got back from my master’s degree I was looking for a job, but in the
meantime I also had decided to do voluntary work so I started here, at the
rescue center, and at the Attica Zoological Park nearby. Later on, after a few
weeks I became a full-time volunteer because I was here almost every single
day, I fell in love with sea turtles and the work that’s being done here. I was a
volunteer for a year and a half. Throughout all this time I was able to gain
experience on many different levels and I accepted the offer of becoming a
staff member. Apart from the rehabilitation, the center is also carrying out
public-awareness activities. We have visitors coming and we inform them
about our work here as well as the beach projects of ARCHELON. We also
normally have schools visiting us. Now, during the pandemic, schools are
able to take a Live Streaming Tour at the Rescue Center. There is a lot of work