Francis F. Pavloudakis holds a diploma (1992) and a PhD (2001) from the Mineral Resources Engineering Department of the Technical University of Crete (Greece) and an MSc degree (1995) in environmental engineering from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (UK). He started his professional career as a junior researcher at the Greek Institute of Solid Fuels Technology and Application (1996–2000). Since 2000, he has worked in the lignite mines of the Public Power Corporation SA in the Ptolemais Basin, first as an environmental expert and then as the head of the sector of mining studies at the South Field mine. He has also worked as a part-time lecturer in several academic institutions. Since December 2021, he has worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Mineral Resources Engineering of the University of Western Macedonia.