Dr. Gloria Soto Montes de Oca holds a Bachelor's degree in International Relations from Universidad Iberoamericana, a Master's degree in International Relations from the University of Essex, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences from the University of East Anglia (UK). She serves as a Professor-Researcher in the Department of Social Sciences at the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, where she is a member of the Socio-territorial Analysis Laboratory (LAST-DCS) and the UAM Water Group (AgUAM). She holds Level II status in Mexico's National System of Researchers (SNII). Additionally, she is an Honorary Research Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE) in the UK, a member of the Mexican Network of Scientists for Climate, and a member of the Advisory Board at Causa Natura.

Her research focuses on sustainability by integrating social, economic, and biophysical components to inform environmental decision-making. Her primary research lines include water resource management, pollution and restoration of aquatic bodies, climate risk assessment regarding floods, droughts, and heatwaves, and climate change governance. She is co-author of "Cambio climático y agua en ciudades: impactos en la Ciudad de México" (UAM) and author of "Agua: Tarifas, escasez y sustentabilidad en las megaciudades," alongside numerous peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. She served as a contributing author for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Cities and as a reviewer for UNEP's Seventh Global Environment Outlook (GEO-7).

She has led research projects with direct public policy impacts for institutions such as the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change, the National Water Commission, the State Government of Puebla, the Chamber of Deputies, the Zurich Foundation, and the Mexico City Environmental and Land Use Attorney's Office (PAOT), where she previously served as a Citizen and Government Councillor. Furthermore, she received funding through the Newton Fund Latin America Biodiversity Researcher Links program.