I study school coexistence and the socio-emotional aspects of educational processes, with a particular focus on their predictors, as well as their consequences for academic trajectories. Within this filed, I have a particular interest in the effects of exposure to community violence. I have worked on the development and validation of instruments for assessing socio-emotional skills and coexistence (e.g., peer relationships, student-teacher relationships), seeking its pedagogical application. I am dedicated to the development and validation of educational tools (training and teaching materials) for teachers to promote socio-emotional skills, coexistence and participation in the classroom. In addition, I study teacher well-being, with particular emphasis on teacher self-efficacy and the challenges linked to school coexistence. I incorporate qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodologies.

A Belgian who migrated to Uruguay in 2010, I completed my PhD in Pedagogical Sciences at the Ghent University with a study on the psychosocial consequences of growing up during warfare. I am categorized as a Level 1 researcher in the national system of researchers of Uruguay (SNI), with a line of research in school coexistence and socio-emotional development. I am a research professor at the Department of Education at UCU, and co-head of the Research Support Unit of the Vice-Rectory for Research and Innovation of the same university. I am the director of PICA, a program to promote socio-emotional skills and coexistence of adolescents in secondary education (https://picauruguay.wordpress.com/). I am an active member of the Latin American Network on School Violence (https://convivenciaescolar.net/) and participate in the International Observatory on School Climate and Violence Prevention (http://institucional.us.es/ioscvp/). Between 2015 and 2019 I was project director at the National Institute for Educational Evaluation (INEEd) in Uruguay, in charge of the evaluation of school coexistence and participation, and socio-emotional skills at the national level. Since 2017 I have worked regularly as a consultant for UNESCO and UNICEF in the area of education and adolescent participation.