The University of Massachusetts Boston Professor Maria Ivanova, who is internationally recognized for her expertise on governance and sustainability, talked about her appointment to the United Nations Scientific Advisory Board.  
What will your work at the Scientific Advisory Board involve?
Well, the scientific advisory board is made of 26 people who are from 25 countries. Since the board hasn’t met, I can’t tell you much about what my work will be. This is the first time that a board like this was created by the U.N. so none of the people at the board have been assigned a specific role. 
How do you plan to bridge academia and policy in working at the Scientific Advisory Board? 
In theory, the board will take issues of sustainability and use its networks to provide knowledge transition. Each person at the board is an expert in his or her own field so they’ll offer what they know to help solve an issue. I will be using a social science perspective.
You mentioned the board will devise solutions for global problems. What will those global problems be?
The board will work with problems about sustainability on a global level. So the problems we work with won’t be related to a specific country. One of the problems will concern developmental goals to find alternate water resources for nations. We will be working with questions about what should be done and the methods we use to get there.
Will you be teaching at UMass Boston when your work begins at the advisory board?
I will be able to work at UMass Boston. My work at the U.N. is not a substitute for what I’m currently doing. For the U.N. advisory board, we’ll be meeting at specific dates.
How often will the advisory board meet?
I will be meeting with the board for two year terms.