Carolina Vera
Carolina Susana Vera (born 14 July 1962) is an Argentine meteorologist. She is the principal investigator of the Argentine 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 Argentine government as part of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation. She is vice president of work 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 also influenced 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. She then 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." Career. She  began her teaching career as a teaching assistant in 1984, then moved on as a practical applications teacher from 1991 to 1994, as adjunct faculty between 1994 and 2011, as an associate professor between 2011 and 2012, and finally as a professor beginning in 2012. In 2014, Vera gave a TED Talk as part of TEDxRiodelaPlata in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her presentation primarily focused on a research project conducted to confirm the existence of a jet stream that runs through eastern Argentina. Dr. Vera considers it a duty to share her findings on social media. She frequently posts weather updates  and research on climate change on twitter. Commenting on the value of social media, Vera has said “I am concerned about the communication of scientific knowledge to reach people… Twitter gives us the possibility to do it directly. While the area of climate was always more exposed in the media by daily forecasts, other areas of science were less used to interacting with people. Today social media helps us. I consider communicating in them what I research as something more of my work. In fact, one researcher said that we should spend 20% of our time doing that. Why? Because  today you can't do science if you don't explain to the world what you're doing it for. It is our responsibility.” Advocacy for Women in STEM. Vera has been an advocate for women in STEM ever since her thesis advisor led her to become a feminist. Vera reveres her thesis supervisor, Dr. Kalnay, and said the following about her: “My thesis supervisor, Eugenia Kalnay, made me a feminist. Until I stopped interacting with her, she was not aware of gender differences. She was my mentor, it was to see the reference of where one could go, even  being a woman.” Vera had several poor experiences as a woman in STEM, citing many meetings in which she was the only woman. On one occasion, a male colleague even told her not to discuss scientific matters at such meetings in order to avoid contradicting him in public. Having endured such sexism, Vera has developed enough power and confidence as a woman in the STEM field and encourages other women to do the same. She has said, “I have been very fortunate to meet amazing women trying to make progress in science. It has been easy for me to encourage  and empower them in their career, just by explicitly recognizing their excellent skills and aptitudes.”