The BioSocioCultural Interdisciplinary Research Network, administered by the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, is a university-led, government-funded initiative to rethink theories and research practices on biodiversity and gender. The visit to the Science & Justice Research Center (SJRC) at UC Santa Cruz is coordinated through the SJRC’s Visiting Scholar Program in collaboration with Professor Claudia Matus, Director of the Center for Educational Justice at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. This visit forms part of the BioSocioCultural Interdisciplinary Research Network grant awarded under the 2024 “Concurso de Fomento a la Vinculación Internacional para Instituciones de Investigación” to Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile.
Itinerary coming soon.
To take part in the visit, contact Jenny Reardon (reardon1@ucsc.edu) or Colleen Stone (colleen@ucsc.edu).
ABOUT PUCC The BioSocioCultural Interdisciplinary Research Network PARTICIPANTS
CLAUDIA MATUS is a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Full Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile Faculty of Education, and UC Center for Educational Justice Director. Her main areas of research are the production of the gender binary norm in scientific research, the interdisciplinary linkage between Social Sciences and Natural Sciences for the production of data, and the theoretical development of the BioSocioCultural perspective for the study of inequalities.
RODRIGO DE LA IGLESIA’s research group is dedicated to understanding how coastal microbial communities respond to environmental perturbations, especially those of anthropogenic origin. We use molecular tools, experimental approaches and field work to study the local adaptation of photosynthetic microbial communities in polluted systems. Our aim is to elucidate the mechanisms underlying the resilience and adaptation of these microorganisms to environmental variability and stress caused by human activities, such as pollution and climate change. We work with a wide range of marine microorganisms in a variety of coastal habitats, from intertidal zones to deeper ecosystems. Through interdisciplinary collaborations, we integrate data from the genetic to the ecosystem level, allowing us to address complex questions of marine microbial ecology and physiology. Our research aims to provide a sound scientific basis for the management and conservation of marine resources, thereby contributing to the sustainability of aquatic ecosystems.
VALENTINA RIBERI is an economist with a master’s in Public Policy from the Universidad de Chile and a PhD in Education from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She has led large-scale quantitative studies for Chilean ministries, focusing on arts, education, health, and social policy, including innovative projects like developing Chile’s cultural statistics framework. Her doctoral dissertation, Measurements of the Vulnerable in Education: Productive Apparatuses and Their Relational Implications for Social Justice (2022), critically examined educational measurement practices using a Cultural Studies perspective. She has co-authored significant works, including An Ethnography of Vulnerability: A New Materialist Approach to the Apparatus of Measurement (2021) and The Agency of Difference in Chilean School Policies and Practices (2022). Currently, as Executive Director of the UC Center for Educational Justice, her research explores the intersection of measurement technologies and gender, including her role as co-investigator in the project Sampling, Instruments, Data, and Gender: A Biosociocultural Approach (2024–2025), which investigates how biodiversity data reinforces binary gender conceptualizations.
CAMILA MARTÍNEZ has a science degree with a Biology major from the University of Chile and a PhD in Neurolinguistics from the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She has developed research on reading learning difficulties and language disorders using behavioral and neurophysiological evaluation tools. Additionally, she has participated in developing and implementing learning and evaluation tools in digital format for different populations with typical development and special educational needs. She has been teaching Psychobiology of Learning at the University of O’Higgins since 2019, an institution in which she participated as a postdoctoral researcher from 2019 until 2022. She is currently an associate researcher in the research line for Disability Inclusion of the Center for Educational Justice.
CARLA MUÑOZ is a sociologist and PhD candidate in Education at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, has a robust background in research, project coordination, and evaluation in education, childhood, and early childhood. Her professional expertise includes leading studies on classroom interactions, inclusive education, and migration. She has worked with prominent foundations like Fundación Luksic and public institutions, including JUNJI, focusing on early and secondary education. Muñoz has also contributed to international research, such as serving as an External Quality Observer for the OECD International ECEC Staff Survey. Her academic achievements include co-authoring publications on migrant children’s educational experiences and inclusive education. An ANID National Doctorate Scholarship supports her and actively explores the intersections of gender, education, and childhood through qualitative and quantitative research methodologies.
SEBASTIÁN DEHNHARDT is a PhD student in Biological Sciences at the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and a Research Assistant at the Millennium Institute for Integrative Biology (iBio). His research focuses on microbial genetics, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, particularly the genetic transformation of microorganisms and the application of CRISPR-Cas9 technologies. He is committed to advancing knowledge in microbial systems through interdisciplinary approaches and innovative experimentation.
