Belén Rodríguez-Fonseca is a Full Professor in the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology at Complutense University of Madrid (UCM), where she teaches Physical Oceanography, North Atlantic Climate Variability, Statistics, General Physics, and Numerical Computation. She also serves as the chair of the Master in Meteorology and Geophysics program at UCM. Her academic career began with a B.Sc. in Physics in 1994 and a Ph.D. in Physics in 2001, with a thesis exploring the relationship between Iberian Peninsula precipitation and North Atlantic atmospheric variability.

Belén Rodríguez-Fonseca's early research focused on the influence of tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures (SSTs) on North Atlantic rainfall anomalies. In 2002, she led her first national project on SST-forced teleconnections, which marked the beginning of a collaboration with Dr. Roberto Mechoso of UCLA. This work contributed to understanding subtropical North Atlantic forcing on winter atmospheric regimes and laid the groundwork for further investigations.

In 2005, Rodríguez-Fonseca began leading UCM’s participation in the European AMMA project, which studied the West African monsoon and its relationship with global climate variability. This effort expanded into the Tropical Atlantic Variability Group, which she established to study interannual-to-interdecadal SST-forced climate variability. Collaborations with Senegal led to significant advancements in understanding Sahelian climate variability, including malaria predictability, statistical seasonal prediction models like S4CAST, and sustainable research partnerships with the University Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar.

Her work in coupled climate modeling advanced through projects such as PREFACE (2013–2018) and TRIATLAS (2019–present), where she focused on reducing model biases and improving ecosystem predictability in upwelling regions. This research also extended to societal applications, including analyzing the impact of climate variability on Iberian Peninsula crop systems and designing tools to communicate climate science to the public. Under her leadership, research projects integrated climate variability with health, energy, and agricultural challenges.

Rodríguez-Fonseca has made significant contributions to understanding North Atlantic atmospheric variability and interannual-to-multidecadal modulations of the Euro-Atlantic climate system. She has supervised numerous Ph.D. theses in these areas, with notable findings on ENSO’s impact on Europe and the nonstationarity of its teleconnections. Her interbasin teleconnection research revealed links between Atlantic Niño and Pacific ENSO events, a topic she continues to explore as part of international collaborations like CLIVAR TBI.

Belén Rodríguez-Fonseca has collaborated with prestigious institutions worldwide, including UCLA, Barcelona Supercomputing Center, and University of Dakar, among others. Her recent work includes studying marine ecosystem predictability in regions like California and Mauritania-Senegal. She is also deeply committed to public science communication, leading initiatives such as Meteolab, a virtual laboratory for teaching meteorology and climate change concepts to students and educators.

In summary, Belén Rodríguez-Fonseca’s career integrates advanced climate modeling, statistical analysis, and interdisciplinary research. Her work addresses critical global challenges, such as climate variability, teleconnections, and ecosystem predictability, while bridging scientific research with societal applications to promote climate awareness and resilience.