[6] González Hernández is a specialist in Geographic Information Systems with a Masters in Meteorology Sciences from the National University of Colombia, and is the first woman to lead the agency.

[7] It was created on December 22, 1993, when Congress passed Law 99 of 1993, replacing the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology, and Land Management (Instituto Colombiano de Hidrología, Meteorología y Adecuación de Tierras - HIMAT),[1] and it officially started functioning on March 1, 1995.

The IDEAM is in charge of gathering and handling specialized information about the different ecosystems found in Colombia; it also establishes technical parameters to promote an adequate use of land use and planning[8] The institute is charged with obtaining, analyzing, processing and divulging information pertaining to hydrology, hydrogeology, meteorology, and geography of biophysical, geomorphological aspects, and the vegetation and land area to improve the use and care of the biophysical resources or the country.

[8] The IDEAM also manages the operation and location of the meteorological and hydrological bases within the country, in order to collect information, forecasts, alerts and advice on the behavior of the climate to the population.

It is in charge of monitoring the country's biophysical resources on issues related to their contamination and degradation, crucial for decisions made by environmental authorities.