Area residents got a treat Thursday evening as KARE11 chief meteorologist Belinda Jensen visited the Martin County Library in Fairmont to talk about her career and the children’s books she has authored.

Speaking to a crowd of more than 100, as well as a large group of curious children, Jensen entertained, educated and enthralled her audience as she explained how she came to be where she is, and why she wants to help children understand the science of weather.

“I’ve been at KARE11 for 25 years, and it’s been a privilege to be there,” she said. “It’s a fantastic place and a great station.”

From there, Jensen explained how a green screen works, and described her work at the station, going into how she got her start.

“I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin,” she said. “I think that the reason I became a meteorologist was because I spent so much time outside. There were five kids, and my mom sent us outside, and I was a tomboy.”

Like many children, her interests varied over time.

“When I was in fourth grade I got a new puppy, so I wanted to be a veterinarian. Then when I was in junior high my mom knew a florist and I thought she was cool, so I wanted to be a florist. When I got into high school, I thought I wanted to be a social studies teacher.

“I had my physics teacher tell me that he thought I could be a scientist. No one in my family had even gone to college so for me to be a scientist was really out of my realm. So he told me to write a paper about a science that I liked.

“So I used to really like KARE11 as a kid, and I used to watch (former KARE11 meteorologist) Paul Douglas and I thought I could write about weather. So then I called him on the phone to interview him, and I interviewed him in the 10th grade, and now I have his job. So you never know what can happen.”

Jensen went to college in Mankato, where she told an adviser she wanted to be either a social studies teacher or a meteorologist. After being advised to take various science classes, Jensen ended up with a minor in math.

“Bottom line, I transferred to another school and got a degree in meteorology,” she said. “Between my junior and senior year, I called Paul Douglas on the phone and I asked him if he needed an intern and he said yes, so I interned at KARE11 back in 1988.”

Her career path, though, led through a variety of twists and turns before heading back to KARE11.

“I decided that television wasn’t for me, and when I got done I decided I wanted to teach earth sciences,” she said.

She applied at grad school, joining her parents in Salt Lake City.

“In Salt Lake City, I started watching the news, and there was this one guy on channel 4 and he had no idea what he was talking about,” she said. “I gave him a call, and before I could even finish my sentence he asked me when I could start.”

Jensen began work at the station by making maps. After two weeks, the man she was working with did not show up. She was asked by the news director to try her hand at the morning meteorologist position.

“I called Paul Douglas on the phone, and he told me I had to take it, and I leaped and it was scary,” she said. “Sometimes in life, you have to just do it, you have to figure it out.”

“So later, Paul Douglas called me on the phone and said, ‘Belinda, the weekend position has opened up,'” she recalled. “I told him that was sweet, but I wasn’t ready to go back to Minneapolis. He told me I probably wouldn’t get the job, but he wanted me to come interview.”

But she did get the job and has been with KARE11 since June 1993.

Along the way, she has been to many schools and spoken to a lot of students, something that inspired her to write a series of children’s books about weather.

Featuring a character known as “Bel the Weather Girl,” the books explain the science behind things such as clouds, storms, hail, hurricanes, blizzards and tornadoes. Throughout the series, Bel delivers playful interpretations of weather science, while reassuring her cousin Dylan and her dog Stormy.

Jensen said that if kids understand the science, they will better understand and be prepared for various kinds of weather.

“Scientists can come in lots of different forms,” she concluded. “If you like dinosaurs, you can be a paleontologist, if you like volcanoes you can be a volcanologist, if you like bugs, you can be an entomologist. There are so many cool sciences, so all you have to do is figure out what you’re curious about.

“Scientists can be hockey players, soccer players or girls. Scientists can be anybody, even a kid from Prescott, Wisconsin, who called Paul Douglas on the phone and wanted to be a social studies teacher. You never know what can happen, so keep all those big dreams going.”