The Future of Education
Mónica Fernández Morilla
Institution: Universitat Internacional de Catalunya
Country: Spain
Mónica Fernández has a Degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oviedo (1989-1994). She was a researcher at the University of Oviedo (Spain) in the Area of Microbiology (Faculty of Medicine) and there she took the PhD courses of the Functional Biology Programme. During that period, she got her first grant from the Banco Herrero Foundation to develop a project about Streptomyces growth. In 1998, she was awarded a new grant from the Institute of Biotechnology of León (INBIOTEC, Spain) and she began to develop and train in Molecular Biology techniques. Thus, she ended up developing her Doctoral Thesis -"Cloning and characterisation of the last three genes of the aminoethoxyvinylglycine biosynthesis pathway in Streptomyces sp. 5331"- in this field, between this Institute and the University of León, which granted her another Predoctoral Fellowship between 1999-2002.
In 2003 she obtained her first position as a teacher and researcher at the European University Miguel de Cervantes (Valladolid, Spain) in the Polytechnic School, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, where she was Associate Professor for eight years. At this University she developed projects in which Molecular Biology was the tool to study threatened or endangered wild populations, to develop programmes to protect them. As a result of this period, she obtained a six-year research period recognised by the CNEAI (National Evaluation Commission; Ministry of Spain) in the field of Natural Sciences.
In 2011 there was a turning point in her professional career so that she made the leap from Natural and Experimental Sciences to the Didactics of these, specifically, to Environmental Education and Education for Sustainability. Since then, she has been working as a teacher and researcher at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Universitat International de Catalunya (UIC-Barcelona, Sapin) and she is a member of the consolidated research group recognised by the Generalitat de Catalunya called “Sustainability and Integral Education”. In 2012 she obtained her first competitive project in this field as coordinator entitled “How to reduce our Ecological Footprint?” from the Mapfre Foundation. In this field she has coordinated four books with prestigious publishers, and she has more than thirty scientific publications that allowed her to obtain in 2016 another six-year research stretch in the field of Social Sciences. During these last two years she coordinated an ERASMUS+ project and she is currently participating as a researcher in two other European projects. In 2014 she took up the position of Vice-Dean of Research at this Faculty and since 2021 she is the Director of the Doctoral Programme in Communication, Education and Humanities at the UIC-Barcelona.
Areas of expertise: Environmental Education; Education for Sustainability; STEAM Education; Research Methodology in Social Sciences and Education; Innovative Education.
In 2003 she obtained her first position as a teacher and researcher at the European University Miguel de Cervantes (Valladolid, Spain) in the Polytechnic School, Faculty of Environmental Sciences, where she was Associate Professor for eight years. At this University she developed projects in which Molecular Biology was the tool to study threatened or endangered wild populations, to develop programmes to protect them. As a result of this period, she obtained a six-year research period recognised by the CNEAI (National Evaluation Commission; Ministry of Spain) in the field of Natural Sciences.
In 2011 there was a turning point in her professional career so that she made the leap from Natural and Experimental Sciences to the Didactics of these, specifically, to Environmental Education and Education for Sustainability. Since then, she has been working as a teacher and researcher at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the Universitat International de Catalunya (UIC-Barcelona, Sapin) and she is a member of the consolidated research group recognised by the Generalitat de Catalunya called “Sustainability and Integral Education”. In 2012 she obtained her first competitive project in this field as coordinator entitled “How to reduce our Ecological Footprint?” from the Mapfre Foundation. In this field she has coordinated four books with prestigious publishers, and she has more than thirty scientific publications that allowed her to obtain in 2016 another six-year research stretch in the field of Social Sciences. During these last two years she coordinated an ERASMUS+ project and she is currently participating as a researcher in two other European projects. In 2014 she took up the position of Vice-Dean of Research at this Faculty and since 2021 she is the Director of the Doctoral Programme in Communication, Education and Humanities at the UIC-Barcelona.
Areas of expertise: Environmental Education; Education for Sustainability; STEAM Education; Research Methodology in Social Sciences and Education; Innovative Education.
