Alcántara-Ayala Irasema

Irasema Alcantara-Ayala directs the Instituto de Geografía at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in Mexico City. She obtained a BSc in geography (1993) at UNAM and PhD specializing in geomorphology (1997) at King's College London, University of London, UK. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA, and served as an associate professor and professor at UNAM's Institute of Geography before becoming director in 2008. Her research focuses on mass movement processes, natural hazards, risks, vulnerability and prevention of disasters. She serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals and is currently vice president of the International Geographical Union.