Mercedes Vázquez Vílchez
Associate Professor in Science Education, Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences, University of Granada.
About me
I earned my degree in Geology from the University of Granada in 1997. In 1999, I was awarded an FPDI predoctoral fellowship from the Regional Government of Andalusia and undertook my doctoral studies in the Department of Geology at the University of Jaén, within the Doctoral Programme in Earth Sciences. I was awarded my PhD in 2003.
In 2004, I was awarded a postdoctoral fellowship from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport (MECD) to undertake a two-year research stay at the Department of Geosciences, Centre for Industrial Minerals and Clays (MIA), University of Aveiro, Portugal.
In 2007, I joined the UGR Research Fund (Plan Propio de Investigación) Incorporation Programme in the Department of Geodynamics at the University of Granada, where I remained until 2012. In 2012 I was awarded a fellowship at the Andean Geothermal Center of Excellence (CEGA), University of Chile, where I worked until 2015.
In 2016, I took up a Substitute Lecturer post in the Department of Didactics of Sciences at the University of Jaén, and later that year I began working as a Substitute Lecturer in the Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences—first at the Ceuta campus and subsequently at the Granada campus.
In 2018, I joined the Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Crystallography and Mineralogy at the University of Valladolid as an Assistant Professor (Profesor Ayudante Doctora). Later that year, I moved to the Department of Didactics of Experimental Sciences at the University of Granada, first as an Assistant Professor and subsequently as an Associate Professor (Profesora Contratada Doctora). In 2022, I was appointed Associate Professor (Profesor Titular de Universidad).
I am currently a member of the Junta de Andalucía research group “HUM-613: Didactics of Experimental Sciences and Sustainability (DCEyS)”.
My Research Career
My profiles in academic databases
The icons link to my profiles and metrics on ORCID, Google Scholar, Scopus, Web of Science, Dialnet, ResearchGate, and Academia.
Research Areas
Game-based learning in science education
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD)
Earth and Environmental Science Education
Emerging technologies in STEM education
Projects
Below are the most recent projects I have participated in or am currently working on.
Strengthening Community Resilience Through Game-Based Learning Development of a Video Game on Natural Hazards as an Educational Tool
for Disaster Risk Reduction. REJUEGO.
Funding body: Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) – Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU)
Call: Knowledge Generation Projects 2024
Project reference: PID2024-160481OB-I00
TecnoSTEAM: Acercando la Ciencia, la Tecnología y las Matemáticas a los escolares de contextos vulnerables a través de tecnologías emergentes.
Funding body: Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (MICIU)
Call: Ayudas por la Fundación Española para la Ciencia y la Tecnología F.S.P., en régimen de concurrencia competitiva, para el fomento de la Cultura Científica, Tecnológica y de la Innovación 2021. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación
Project reference: FCT-21-17495
Educación para el Desarrollo Sostenible y Tecnologías Emergentes para la Transición Ecológica y Digital: secuencias STEAM en educación obligatoria y formación del profesorado.
Funding body: Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) – Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN)
Call: Strategic Projects Oriented to the Ecological Transition and to the Digital Transition (TED) 2021” (State Plan 2021–2023; funded under NextGenerationEU / Spain’s Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan)
Project reference: TED2021-129474B-I00
Desarrollo de ladrillos de altas prestaciones físico-mecánicas a partir de residuos convencionales como avance en la industria de la construcción (DELARES).
Funding body: Regional Ministry of Economy, Innovation and Science, Regional Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucía)
Call: R&D&I projects under the Andalusia ERDF Operational Programme 2014–2020
Project reference: B-RNM-188-UGR20
Aplicación de técnicas de procesado de señales y de aprendizaje automático sobre señales sísmicas para pronosticar erupciones volcánicas.
Funding body: Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) – Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN)
Call: Proyectos I+D+i 2019 – Modalidades “Retos Investigación” y “Generación de Conocimiento”
Project reference: PID2019-106260GB-I00
Publications
Indexed publications in JCR and Scopus
Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Carmona-Molero, R., and Ouariachi-Peralta, T. (2025). How to communicate and educate more effectively on natural risk issues to improve disaster risk management through serious games, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 3939–3955, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-3939-2025.
López, U. H., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., & Salmerón-Vílchez, P. (2024). The Contributions of Creativity to the Learning Process within Educational Approaches for Sustainable Development and/or Ecosocial Perspectives: A Systematic Review. Education Sciences, 14(8), 824. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080824.
Crespo-López, L., Benavente, D., Morales-Ruano, S., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., & Cultrone, G. (2023). Non-destructive techniques (NDT) and statistical analysis for the characterization of bricks made with added glass. Construction and Building Materials, 408, 133583. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.133583.
González-Robles, Ana & Vázquez-Vílchez, Mercedes. (2022). Educational proposal to promote environmental engagement through the Sustainable Development Goals in Secondary Education: S.O.S Civilisations game. Revista Eureka Sobre Enseñanza Y Divulgación de Las Ciencias, 19(1), 1103. https://doi.org/10.25267/Rev_Eureka_ensen_divulg_cienc.2022.v19.i1.1103.
Silva Díaz, F. R., Fernández-Ferrer, G., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Ferrada, C., Narváez, R., & Carrillo-Rosúa, J. (2022). Tecnologías emergentes en la educación STEM. Análisis bibliométrico de publicaciones en Scopus y WoS (2010-2020). Bordón. Revista De Pedagogía, 74(4), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.13042/Bordon.2022.94198.
Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Garrido-Rosales, D., Pérez-Fernández, B., & Fernández-Oliveras, A. (2021). Using a Cooperative Educational Game to Promote Pro-Environmental Engagement in Future Teachers. Education Sciences, 11(11), 691. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11110691.
Perales-Palacios, F.J., Carrillo-Rosúa, J., García-Yeguas, A., & Vázquez-Vílchez, M. (2021). Volcanoes: The basis for scientific and educational knowledge. Revista Eureka Sobre Enseñanza Y Divulgación de Las Ciencias. 18(3), 3105. https://doi.org/10.25267/Rev_Eureka_ensen_divulg_cienc.2021.v18.i3.3105.
Jabaloy-Sánchez, A., Talavera, C., Rodríguez-Peces, M. J., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., & Evans, N. J. (2021). U-Pb geochronology of detrital and igneous zircon grains from the Águilas Arc in the Internal Betics (SE Spain): Implications for Carboniferous-Permian paleogeography of Pangea. Gondwana Research, 90, 135-158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gr.2020.10.013.
Azdimousa, A.; Jabaloy-Sánchez, A.; Munch, P.; Martínez-Martínez, J. M.; Booth-Rea, G.; Vázquez-Vílchez, M.; Asebriy, L.; Bourgois, J.; González-Lodeiro, F. (2019). Structure and exhumation of the Cap des Trois Fourches basement rocks (Eastern Rif, Morocco). Journal of African Earth Sciences, 150, 657-672. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2018.09.018.
Jabaloy-Sánchez, A., Talavera, C., Gómez-Pugnaire, M. T., López-Sánchez-Vizcaíno, V., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Rodríguez-Peces, M. J., & Evans, N. J. (2018). U-Pb ages of detrital zircons from the Internal Betics: A key to deciphering paleogeographic provenance and tectono-stratigraphic evolution. Lithos, 318, 244-266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lithos.2018.07.026.
Vázquez, M., Ramírez, S., Morata, D., Reich, M., Braun, J. J., & Carretier, S. (2016). Regolith production and chemical weathering of granitic rocks in central Chile. Chemical Geology, 446, 87-98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemgeo.2016.09.023.
Vazquez, M., Bauluz, B., Nieto, F., & Morata, D. (2016). Illitization sequence controlled by temperature in volcanic geothermal systems: The Tinguiririca geothermal field, Andean Cordillera, Central Chile. Applied Clay Science, 134, 221-234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clay.2016.04.011.
Jabaloy-Sánchez, A., Azdimousa, A., Booth-Rea, G., Asebriy, L., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Martínez-Martínez, J. M., & Gabites, J. (2015). The structure of the Temsamane fold-and-thrust stack (eastern Rif, Morocco): evolution of a transpressional orogenic wedge. Tectonophysics, 663, 150-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2015.02.003.
Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Jabaloy-Sánchez, A., Azor, A., Stuart, F., Persano, C., Alonso-Chaves, F. M., … & Garcia-Navarro, E. (2015). Mesozoic and Cenozoic exhumation history of the SW Iberian Variscides inferred from low-temperature thermochronology. Tectonophysics, 663, 110-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2015.06.034.
Azañón, J. M., Galve, J. P., Pérez-Peña, J. V., Giaconia, F., Carvajal, R., Booth-Rea, G., Jabaloy, A., Vázquez, M., Azor, A., & Roldán, F. J. (2015). Relief and drainage evolution during the exhumation of the Sierra Nevada (SE Spain): Is denudation keeping pace with uplift?. Tectonophysics, 663, 19-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2015.06.015.
Vázquez, M., Asebriy, L., Azdimousa, A., Jabaloy, A., Booth-Rea, G., Barbero, L., Mellini, M., & González-Lodeiro, F. (2015). Reply to the comment by Michard et al. on “Evidence of extensional metamorphism associated to Cretaceous rifting of the North-Maghrebian passive margin: The Tanger–Ketama Unit (External Rif, northern Morocco) by Vázquez et al., Geologica Acta, 11 (2013), 277–293.” Geologica Acta, 13(1), 77–82. https://doi.org/10.1344/GeologicaActa2015.13.1.6.
Vázquez, M., Nieto, F., Morata, D., Droguett, B., Carrillo-Rosua, F. J., & Morales, S. (2014). Evolution of clay mineral assemblages in the Tinguiririca geothermal field, Andean Cordillera of central Chile: an XRD and HRTEM-AEM study. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, 282, 43-59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2014.05.022.
Azdimousa, A., Bourgois, J., Poupeau, G., Vázquez, M., Asebriy, L., & Labrin, E. (2014). Fission track thermochronology of the Beni Bousera peridotite massif (Internal Rif, Morocco) and the exhumation of ultramafic rocks in the Gibraltar Arc. Arabian Journal of Geosciences, 7(5), 1993-2005. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-013-0924-3.
Jabaloy-Sánchez, A., Lobo, F. J., Azor, A., Martín-Rosales, W., Pérez-Peña, J. V., Bárcenas, P., … & Vazquez-Vilchez, M. (2014). Six thousand years of coastline evolution in the Guadalfeo deltaic system (southern Iberian Peninsula). Geomorphology, 206, 374-391. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2013.08.037.
Vázquez, M., Asebriy, L., Azimousa, A., Jabaloy, A., Rea, G. B., Barbero, L., … & Lodeiros, F. G. (2013). Evidence of extensional metamorphism associated to Cretaceous rifting of the North-Maghrebian passive margin: The Tanger-Ketama Unit (External Rif, northern Morocco). Geologica Acta, 11(3), 277-293. https://doi.org/10.1344/105.000001843.
Booth‐Rea, G., Jabaloy‐Sánchez, A., Azdimousa, A., Asebriy, L., Vázquez Vílchez, M., & Martínez‐Martínez, J. M. (2012). Upper‐crustal extension during oblique collision: The Temsamane extensional detachment (eastern Rif, Morocco). Terra Nova, 24(6), 505-512. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.2012.01089.x.
Vázquez, M., Jabaloy, A., Barbero, L., & Stuart, F. M. (2011). Deciphering tectonic‐and erosion‐driven exhumation of the Nevado–Filábride Complex (Betic Cordillera, Southern Spain) by low temperature thermochronology. Terra Nova, 23(4), 257-263. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.2011.01007.x.
Barbero, L., Jabaloy, A., Gómez-Ortiz, D., Pérez-Peña, J. V., Rodríguez-Peces, M. J., Tejero, R., Estupinan, J., Azdimousa, A, Vázquez, M., & Asebriy, L. (2011). Evidence for surface uplift of the Atlas Mountains and the surrounding peripheral plateaux: Combining apatite fission-track results and geomorphic indicators in the Western Moroccan Meseta (coastal Variscan Paleozoic basement). Tectonophysics, 502(1-2), 90-104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tecto.2010.01.005.
Vázquez, M., & Jiménez-Millán, J. (2009). Suitability of the Betic Cordillera marly materials for the manufacture of pressed tile. Materiales de Construcción, 59(294), 97-112. https://doi.org/10.3989/mc.2009.40707.
Jiménez-Millán, J., Velilla, N., & Vázquez, M. (2007). Two-stage formation of kaolinite in shear-zone slates, southern Iberian Massif, SE Spain. Clay minerals, 42(3), 273-286. https://doi.org/10.1180/claymin.2007.042.3.01.
Jiménez-Millán, J., Abad, I., Vázquez, M., & Velilla, N. (2007). Deformation-enhanced mine-ralogical changes in igneous quartz-feldspar rocks from a semi-brittle shear zone, Southern Iberian Massif, SE Spain (With 8 figures and 3 tables). Neues Jahrbuch fur Mineralogie-Abhandlungen, 184(1), 1-16. https://doi.org/10.1127/0077-7757/2007/0076.
Jiménez-Espinosa, R., Vázquez, M., & Jiménez-Millán, J. (2007). Differential weathering of granitic stocks and landscape effects in a Mediterranean climate, Southern Iberian Massif (Spain). Catena, 70(2), 243-252. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2006.09.001.
JJiménez-Millán, J., Vázquez, M., & Velilla, N. (2007). Deformation-promoted defects and retrograde chloritization of biotite in slates from a shear zone, southern Iberian massif, SE Spain. Clays and clay minerals, 55(3), 284-294. https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2007.0550305.
Vázquez, M., Abad, I., Jiménez-Millán, J., Rocha, F. T., Fonseca, P. E., & Chaminé, H. I. (2007). Prograde epizonal clay mineral assemblages and retrograde alteration in tectonic basins controlled by major strike-slip zones (W Iberian Variscan chain). Clay Minerals, 42(1), 109-128. https://doi.org/10.1180/claymin.2007.042.1.08.
Vazquez, M., & Jimenez-Millan, J. (2004). Ceramic applicability of quartz-eldspatic materials formed by weathering of plutonic bodies: a case of study (Northern Jaén, Spain). Industrial ceramics, 24(1), 1-7.
Vázquez, M., & Jiménez-Millán, J. (2004). Clay raw materials from the Triassic Red Beds (Northern Jaen, Spain) for making ceramic construction materials. Materiales de Construcción, 54(273), 5-20. https://doi.org/10.3989/mc.2004.v54.i273.219.
Vázquez, M., Jiménez-Millán, J., Sánchez-Jiménez, C., Parras, J. (2003). Composition and ceramic properties of shales from the Central-Iberican Zone of Southern Iberian Massif (Northern Jaen, Spain). Boletín de la Sociedad Española de Cerámica Y Vidrio, 42(4), 215-221. https://doi.org/10.3989/cyv.2003.v42.i4.638.
Other selected publications
Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Garrido-Rosales, D., Pérez-Fernández, B., & Fernández-Oliveras, A. (2020). Aprendizaje basado en juegos para la educación ambiental en bachillerato. Boletín ENCIC: Revista del Grupo de Investigación HUM-974, 4(1), 2–9.
Pérez-Fernández, B., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., & Fernández-Oliveras, A. (2019). A proposal for global-change education based on an educational board game: A Planet on the Abyss. SHS Web of Conferences, 66, 01029. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20196601029.
Vélez-Felipe, A. M., Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Salmerón-Vílchez, P., García-Yeguas, A., & Carrillo-Rosua, J. (2019). An exploratory study examining 10th-grade students’ conceptions about mountain building and relief. SHS Web of Conferences , 66, 01028. https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/20196601028.
Vázquez-Vílchez, M., Jabaloy, A., Carrillo-Rosúa, J., & Casas, R. (2018). La edad de las montañas a la luz de termocronología de baja temperatura: Aportaciones para la enseñanza secundaria. Enseñanza de las Ciencias de la Tierra, 26(1), 57–67. https://raco.cat/index.php/ECT/article/view/335625.
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