Renellys Perez is the Deputy Director of the Physical Oceanography Division of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory (AOML).  She is also a Principal Investigator of the PIRATA Northeast Extension (PNE), Tropical Atlantic Current Observations Study (TACOS), and Southwest Atlantic MOC (SAM) programs. PNE is a joint AOML/PMEL project to observe and better understand climate fluctuations in the central and northeastern tropical Atlantic. TACOS is an AOML project to observe with fine temporal and vertical resolution the horizontal currents in the tropical North Atlantic at PNE mooring sites. SAM is an AOML project to observe and monitor boundary currents in the Southwest Atlantic along 34.5S and their contribution to the meridional overturning circulation. Renellys Perez is also involved in research projects to:

– Examine tropical and South Atlantic currents, how they vary, and how they influence sea surface temperature, weather, climate, and ecosystems.

– Characterize the variability of the overturning circulation in the South Atlantic, and its influence on regional and global heat, salt, oxygen, and carbon distributions, as well as its impact on weather, climate, and sea level.

– Observe deep and abyssal changes in sea surface temperature in the South and North Atlantic ocean.

– Examine how sea level pressure changes over the central North Pacific can be an early precursor for El Niño events.