Maria Jesus Navarro Rios

Maria Jesus Navarro Rios serves as an Associate Professor in the Department of Agro-Food Technology at Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Spain. She concurrently directs the Interdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies and holds significant administrative roles including University Senate Member (Sector 2) and Works Council Member. Her teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate programs including the Bachelor's in Agro-Food and Agro-Environmental Engineering, Master's in Agroecology, and specialized Diplomas in Gender Studies, with course coordination in Animal Science, Traditional and Organic Food Safety, and Health/Sexuality/Masculinity.

Navarro Rios maintains dual research trajectories: (1) Animal Production focusing on sheep/goat farming systems, transhumance practices, and dairy science (particularly milk composition and coagulation properties); and (2) Gender Studies specializing in prostitution attitudes, gender equality measurement, and masculinities. Her recent publications (2021-2025) reveal increasing emphasis on gender-related topics including the development of the APPS-S scale for prostitution attitudes and GEPSU for university gender equality perception, while sustaining contributions to sustainable livestock practices and rural development.

As Director of the Interdisciplinary Center for Gender Studies and member of the 'Economy, Culture and Gender' research group, she leads initiatives promoting gender equality in rural contexts and engineering education. Her work bridges agricultural engineering with social sciences through projects like the 'Ingeniera por qué no' campaign to eliminate gender barriers in engineering careers, demonstrating commitment to interdisciplinary solutions for societal challenges.