Nieves Castro-Rodríguez is a senior astronomer at the Gran Telescopio Canarias (GTC), with a professional career focused on observational astronomical research and the development and use of advanced scientific instrumentation. At the GTC, she is responsible for infrared instrumentation and its scientific exploitation, with particular involvement in the EMIR and FRIDA instruments.

Prior to joining the GTC, she carried out her research activity at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (Spain) and the Astronomisches Institut der Universität Basel (Switzerland), where she participated in a variety of scientific projects related to astronomical observations and the analysis of data obtained with large-aperture telescopes, as well as in the use, characterization, and scientific exploitation of optical and infrared instrumentation.

Her main research interests include studies of galactic structure, both in the Milky Way and in nearby galaxies; the detection and analysis of diffuse light and extragalactic planetary nebulae in galaxy groups and extended clusters, and their relation to the dynamical evolution of these systems; as well as studies of the structure and distribution of galaxies at very high redshift.