Mary Jane Perry is an American oceanographer known for the use of optics to study marine phytoplankton.
[4] In addition to her research, Perry is known for starting an optical oceanography class with Kendall Carder that was initially held at Friday Harbor Laboratories and subsequently moved to the University of Maine.
[5] In 2009, Perry was named a fellow of The Oceanography Society and her nomination reads as follows:[6] For contributions to the founding and advancement of the sub-discipline of bio-optical oceanography and the education of more than a generation of bio-optics studentsPerry's graduate research centered on the utilization of phosphorus in the marine environment where she first adapted a method from the medical community to measure alkaline phosphatase in the North Pacific.
[15][16] This portion of her research led to examining the role of stratification in driving the North Atlantic spring bloom[17] and how eddies remove organic carbon from the surface ocean.
[18][19] While Perry is officially retired, in 2018 she joined the group using gliders to examine production and flux of carbon in the euphotic zone as part of the EXPORTS program.