Rosa is originally from
Porto Alegre; her interest in physics and astronomy started already at age 8. She went to a technical high school on the campus of the
Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, next door to a
planetarium, and started her studies in physics aiming to become an
astrophysicist. As she studied more, her interests shifted to physics education. She received a
licenciate in physics education at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in 2002, working there with Maria Helena Steffani, and in 2006 received a master's degree in the education, philosophy, and history of science through the Federal University of Bahia. Her master's thesis studied the incorporation of the history and philosophy of science into physics teacher training, and was supervised by Maria Cristina Mesquita Martins. After two years as a visiting professor at the
State University of Feira de Santana, from 2006 to 2008, she continued her studies in science education at
Columbia University in the US, receiving a second master's degree in 2010 and receiving her doctorate in 2013. Her doctoral dissertation,
Gender, ethnicity, and physics education: Understanding how Black women build their identities as scientists, was advised by Felicia Moore Mensah of
Teachers College, Columbia University. Returning to Brazil, she became an assistant professor at the
Federal University of Campina Grande from 2013 to 2017. She moved to her present position at the Federal University of Bahia in 2017. ==Recognition==