Kass Fernandez
They/Them
Graduate Research Assistant
Department of Engineering Education
University of Florida
Email: kfernandez1@ufl.edu
LinkedIn | Twitter (@KassSTEM)
Bio
Kass is a Graduate Research Assistant at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where they are pursuing their PhD in Engineering Education (EED). They graduated from Miami Dade College with a B.S. in Biological Sciences and from the University of Florida with an M.S. in Microbiology and Cell Science.
Before embarking on their PhD journey, they worked as a science teacher at a Title I school in Homestead, Florida and as an adjunct professor of Microbiology at a Hispanic-serving community college in Miami, Florida. As an educator, they utilized equitable teaching practices and encouraged student agency to ensure positive learning outcomes.
Their current research focuses on understanding the relationship between institutional culture and transformational change, with a special focus on how individuals within an institution utilize their agency to make transformational changes. They are committed to cultivating more inclusive and equitable access for underrepresented minority students in STEM fields.