As a former Biology and Geology teacher at public secondary schools I embraced research in Science Education when I initiated my Masters’s in Communication and Education in Science at the University of Aveiro, in Portugal. My passion for (re)constructing knowledge led me to develop a doctoral research project focused on the development of pedagogical strategies to promote critical questioning in undergraduate biology (2009-2013). During my Ph.D., namely in 2011, I had the life-changing opportunity to be a trainer of in-service biology teachers in East Timor. I learned so much while teaching abroad that I decided to dedicate my research to the complex learning processes that occur in the context of international development cooperation. Learning processes that involve students, teachers but also teacher educators. Learning is, indeed, a lifelong process.
Since 2015 I am a full-time researcher at CIDTFF, University of Aveiro, Portugal being also responsible for diverse curricular units at Masters and Ph.D. levels. My most recent funded project is entitled: “Science Teacher Education in Portuguese speaking countries from the African, Caribbean & Pacific (ACP) region involving Portuguese Higher Education Institutions as development-cooperation actors: empowering policies and practices through research”.
Along my professional journey, I have been an enthusiastic collaborator in science dissemination projects, such as Cartas com Ciência and a proud mother since 12/2013.