Carolina Vera

Carolina Susana Vera (born 14 July 1962) is an Argentinian meteorologist. She is the principal investigator of the Argentinian research council National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET), and a professor at the Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires (UBA). Her research focuses on climate variability and global warming in South America.

Since 10 December 2019, Vera is part of the Argentinian Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. She is vice president of the working group I of the UN's IPCC program, a member of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Early life

Vera was born July 14, 1962, in San Nicolás de los Arroyos, Argentina. She began developing an interest in meteorology at a young age being fascinated with the stormy clouds in the sky. Her mother had an impact on her decision to pursue meteorology. Vera said “Unlike other people, my mom was very observant. She observed plants, animals, and especially the sky. She always looked up, when the clouds were approaching, [or] when some conditions changed. I kept that spinning around in my head until I sat down in high school to decide what I was going to study in college.” According to Vera, her mother used to predict the weather based on whether or not she could hear a distant train.

Education

Vera graduated with a degree in Meteorological Sciences from the School of Natural and Applied Sciences of the University of Buenos Aires in 1986. Following this, she completed her doctorate in the department of Atmospheric Sciences at the same university under the direction of Dr. Eugenia Kalnay. She graduated in 1992 with a thesis entitled "A Data Assimilation System for the Extratropical Region of South America."