Teaching
“Se a educação sozinha não transforma a sociedade, sem ela tampouco a sociedade muda.” – Paulo Freire
[If education alone does not transform society, without it, society does not change either.]
“Se a educação sozinha não transforma a sociedade, sem ela tampouco a sociedade muda.” – Paulo Freire
[If education alone does not transform society, without it, society does not change either.]
I first encountered the above quote from Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of Indignation during a sociology class in my final year of high school in Brazil. At the time, I did not imagine that 15 years later I would be pursuing an academic career in higher education, yet this idea – that education carries both social responsibility and transformative power – has since remained central to my development as an educator. It captures well my vision that teaching is more than transferring knowledge; it is a relational and humanistic practice that empowers students to think critically, engage with complex issues, and participate as active contributors to society.
I view education as both an ethical and political act. It should not only deepen understanding of course content but also engage with the broader challenges affecting humanity and the natural world. As an evolutionary ecologist, I strive to teach students not only the principles of ecology and evolution but also the process of scientific inquiry, including how to ask meaningful questions, evaluate evidence, and communicate insights. My teaching is driven by the goal of cultivating problem-solving, critical thinking, creativity, and effective communication – transferable skills that prepare students to confront urgent global challenges, including those created by human activity and environmental change.
Want to know more about my views of education, experiences, and learning? Please contact me!
2026 Virginia Tech CIRTL Practitioner-Level Teaching Certificate (in-progress)
2025 Penn State CIRTL Associate-Level Teaching Certificate
2024 Course in College Teaching, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State
2024 Teach to Reach with UDL, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State
2024 Ethical Pedagogy, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State
2023 Psychology of Education, Maranhão State University (virtual), Brazil
2021 Essentials of Online Teaching, Penn State World Campus
2021 New Instructor Orientation, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State
2021 Instructional Foundation Series, Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence, Penn State
2023 – 2024 Teaching Assistant, Field Ecology in Costa Rica, Penn State (3-cr) – Spring semesters
2022 – 2024 Teaching Assistant, Experimental Field Biology, Penn State (5-cr) – Fall semesters
2018 – 2020 Instructor, Biology, at a non-profit educational organization (DoarEduca) that offers, free of charge, studies for socioeconomically disadvantaged people. – Academic years
Fall 2019 Instructor, Ecology and Evolution of Plant-Animal Interactions (short course: 4h)
Fall 2018 Teaching Assistant, Identification of Vascular Plants, UFMG (2-cr)
Spring 2018 Teaching Assistant, Plant Anatomy, UFMG (5-cr)
Spring 2018 Instructor, The use of the R as a statistical tool (short course: 15h)
2017 – 2019 Teaching Assistant, Field Methodology, UFMG (5-cr) – Fall & Spring semesters
Spring 2014 Teaching Assistant, Morphology and Taxonomy of Vascular Plants, UFMG (4-cr)
Spring 2013 Instructor, Ecology of Riparian Environments (short course: 15h)