Doctor María Antonina Galván Fernández is a Professor at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (UAM) Iztapalapa Campus, in the degree of Hydrological Engineering, where she has worked in the areas of water quality and water pollution treatment; basic, parametric, statistical, and stochastic hydrology; hydrological and hydraulic design; hydrological analysis for natural resource management; geographic information systems and numerical models applied through GIS to natural resource assessment; integrated watershed management; systems analysis and design of natural resource systems; hydrological analysis and design; and hydrological and hydraulic design; hydrological and hydraulic design; hydrological analysis for natural resource management, geographic information systems and numerical models applied through GIS to natural resource assessment, integrated watershed management, systems analysis and public policy design.

She has participated in 26 research projects; five research projects are internal (Hydrological Engineering Group); 21 applied research agreements sponsored by entities external to the university, including agreements with Ecology, Secretary of Health, COFEPRIS, and PEMEX. Three are basic research sponsored by CONACYT and ICyT, related to environmental health. Finally, seven agreements for the application of knowledge requested by the private sector.

Professor Galván has participated in 11 more research projects on environmental evaluation and the generation of management plans and/or public policies for the mitigation of environmental problems; the most important thing to highlight is the transfer phase of these plans to governmental institutions responsible for these issues and affected populations.

The events related to these knowledge-technology transfers have been for the Ministry of Health, PEMEX-PEP, Ecology-CONAMP, Ecology Institute of Natural History, Mexico City Government, Fundación Produce, SAGARPA, and the Ministry of Economy with the purpose of creating work agendas for these institutions and in support of programs aimed at a) environmental recovery (CONFORT), b) vulnerable groups (women producers), c) support for small producers (Economy, SAGARPA, Fundación Produce), d) population at risk (Health, PEMEX).

The construction of these management plans-public policies begins with the identification of the environmental problem, the routes-impacts on human beings are identified, the level of risk or rates of change of the natural resource that impacts humans (runoff, water quality, water availability, soil erosion, oil spills in water and soil, transmission of diseases such as dengue and cholera), etc. are evaluated numerically. With this information, management plans are drawn up in conjunction with the responsible institution but also with the affected population, so that the population accepts and becomes involved in the strategies to solve their problems. Subsequently, the institutions' personnel are trained in the application of these agendas, as well as in the understanding and scope of the public policies implemented.