Renata Nagai
Geosciences
As a child, Renata Hanae Nagai’s mother used to take her to the laboratory where she worked. That began her interest in science, which became a real passion when Nagai included the ocean in the equation. An oceanographer by training, she was one of the first oceanography students at the University of São Paulo. The institution was also home to her master’s and doctoral studies. Her postdoctoral studies took place at the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University in the United States. Her project attempts to understand the past of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean to measure human actions in climate change.
Torn between the hustle and bustle of the city and the serenity of the countryside, Nagai found balance ever since she moved to the small town of Pontal do Paraná to teach at the Federal University of Paraná. Outside the classroom, there is always time to see the sea or bury her feet in the sand. At home, she shares her space and routine with her husband, a cat, and a bull terrier.
Projects
Examining the historical climate patterns of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean can provide valuable insights into the impact of human activities on future climate change. Our research aims to comprehend the effects of both natural and anthropogenic climate change on the environmental conditions of the Southwest Atlantic Ocean’s waters, focusing on the Common Era as our chosen time interval.
By analyzing the behavior of this part of the Atlantic Ocean before and after the Industrial Revolution, we can extend the climate record beyond observational data, thereby enhancing our predictive capabilities regarding future climate change and its regional impacts.
We are particularly interested in determining whether there has been a sudden warming and alterations in the carbonate chemistry of the Southwest Atlantic’s waters over the past 200 years. Additionally, we aim to ascertain if the spatio-temporal changes observed in the first 2,000 meters of the Southwest Atlantic water column since the pre-industrial period (1850-1900) align with other global reconstructions.
