Katerina Pia Günter

I am a researcher and educator working at the intersections of science education, gender studies, Science and Technology Studies (STS), biology, and regenerative thinking and practice. Across my work, I draw on sociocultural, critical, and feminist theories to explore how education might contribute not only to more just and sustainable futures, but to regenerating the relationships, communities, and ecologies of which education is part. Central to this work is leading the REGEN|ED Rethinking Education for Regenerative Futures research environment at Umeå University. Supported by a research environment development grant from the School of Education, REGEN|ED brings together researchers and educators across disciplines, geographical contexts, and educational levels to move beyond education about sustainability towards education as a practice of stewardship, reciprocity, regeneration, and collective transformation. My current work explores regenerative education through collective autoethnographic encounters with for instance environmental stewardship, campus and community gardens, critical-feminist scholarship, and transdisciplinary and creative methodologies. I also co-coordinate the development of Campus Gardens at Umeå University.

At NMD, my research furthermore concerns emotions in engineering education, particularly through the EMOTE project led by Johanna Lönngren. Here, I work to expand positioning theory by taking affect, emotions, and materiality seriously in understanding learning and social interaction. My broader research includes university biology instructors’ conceptualisations of effective and inclusive teaching, science identities, gender and disciplinary cultures, and critical-feminist approaches to science education. I am an active member of UmSER, Umeå Science Education Research.

My teaching spans university pedagogy, sustainability and regenerative education, science education, biology, gender studies, and research education. At Umeå University, I co-lead and develop the university pedagogy course Education for Sustainable Development and have taught science didactics with particular attention to inclusive and sustainable teaching, science cultures, and outdoor education. I initiated Write No Matter What, a doctoral course and seminar environment concerned with sustainable and collective academic writing practices, and teach internationally on theory-building in science education research. I see teaching and professional development as opportunities to create spaces in which participants can question taken-for-granted norms, experiment with different ways of knowing and relating, and connect reflection with collective practice.

Community-building and academic stewardship are integral to how I understand scholarly work. I serve as co-editor of the ESERA/Springer book series and co-editor of a Science Education special theme on critical-feminist and justice-centred epistemic futures. I have served twice as co-chair of ESERA’s strand on Equity, Diversity and Identity in Science Education, organise international symposia, and contribute to the Emotions in Engineering Education community. As Equal Opportunities Officer at NMD, I work with departmental leadership and university-wide structures on equality, social justice, and sustainable working environments. Across these roles, my ambition is to connect research, education, stewardship, and community-building, and to explore how universities might become places where more just, caring, and regenerative ways of knowing, learning, and living can be practised.