Irasema Coronado received her bachelor's degree in political science and a certificate of Latin American Studies from the University of South Florida. She has an M.A. in Latin American Studies and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Arizona. Her area of specialization is comparative politics. Her dissertation topic focused on the role of transboundary political elites on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Irasema Coronado is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, a contributing faculty member of the Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. program. She is co-author of the book titled Fronteras No Mas: Toward Social Justice at the U.S.-Mexico Border and several academic articles "Conflictos Ambientales Internacionales e Intranacionales," "Legal Solutions Vs Environmental Realities: The Case of the United States-Mexico Border Region." She has co-edited Digame! Policy and Politics on the Texas Border. She also coauthored Politicas in 2008
She was the the recipient of a Border Fulbright in 2004 and is teaching and researching at the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez.
She served as a member of the Environmental Protection Agency Good Neighbor Environmental Board from 1999-2002 and co-chair of the Coalition Against Violence Toward Women and Children on the Border. Her research interests continue to evolve around the role of women in politics and cross-border cooperation at the local level on the U.S.-Mexico border region.
Irasema Coronado has had a variety of academic and administrative positions at the University of Texas El Paso. She served as graduate Advisor in the Department of Political Science September 2006- January 2008; Chair, Department of Political Science, University of Texas at El Paso September 1, 2005-September 1, 2006 and associate dean of the college of liberal arts 2007-2008. Presently, she serves as an associate provost at the University of Texas at El Paso.