Maria Vernet
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maria Vernet is an Argentine-American marine ecologist whose research focuses on phytoplankton and marine ecosystems, particularly in the Arctic and Antarctic.[1][2] She has been affiliated with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, for much of her career, where she currently serves as an emeritus researcher/professor.[2]
Maria Vernet | |
|---|---|
| Alma mater | University of Washington |
| Awards | Accomplished Scientist Fellow for 2018 Biological Sciences - The American Association for the Advancement of Science |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
Education
Vernet completed her undergraduate degree in biology at the University of Buenos Aires and later moved to the United States for graduate studies.[3] She attended the University of Washington, where she earned a Master of Science in Biological Oceanography in 1981 and a Ph.D. in the same field in 1983.[3]
Career and impact
Vernet began her affiliation with Scripps Institution of Oceanography as a postdoctoral fellow in 1986 and became a formal researcher there in 1991.[2] Her work focuses on the distribution and abundance of phytoplankton, investigating how these microscopic organisms contribute to the marine food web and global carbon cycle.[1][2]
Over several decades, Vernet has participated in more than 40 oceanographic research expeditions, conducting extensive fieldwork in the Southern Ocean, including studies in the Weddell Gyre.[4][5] Her research has examined a wide range of environmental changes affecting polar marine ecosystems. Vernet was a part of one of the earliest research teams to investigate how increased ultraviolet radiation from the Antarctic ozone hole affected marine phytoplankton.[6] Her recent projects have focused on ice-phytoplankton interactions, ecological responses to ice shelf breakups, and the impact of glacial meltwater on Antarctic and Greenland Fjord coastal ecosystems.[1][4]
Vernet is also involved in citizen science through the FjordPhyto project, which collaborates with the Antarctic tourism industry to collect long-term data on phytoplankton in the Antarctic Peninsula.[4][7][8]
Awards and honors
In 2018, Vernet was elected to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) as a Fellow for Biological Sciences.[6][9] She was cited for her distinguished contributions to polar marine ecology, especially with regard to polar ice shelf breakup and ice melt.[9]