Dr Elanor M. Bell, BSc (Hons), PhD

I am a microbial ecologist by training but have turned my hand from whale food to the whales themselves. The connection is my love of extreme environments, in particular the poles, and conservation.

I began my scientific career with a degree in Environmental Biology from St. Andrews University, Scotland. I went on to do doctoral research at the Nottingham University, UK, but spent much of the time wintering at the Australian Davis Station in eastern Antarctica studying the microbial food webs in the saline lakes of the Vestfold Hills. Following this, I took a break from microbes to study seahorses in warmer climes during a conservation-oriented post-doctoral position at McGill University, Canada. It was this posting that inspired me to apply my research to conservation-oriented questions.

From Canada I moved to the University of Potsdam, Germany, and remained there for 6 years on various postdoctoral fellowships, studying the microbial ecology of a suite of extreme environments from extremely acidic lakes, through Arctic and Antarctic freshwater systems, to Antarctic marine benthos, water columns and sea ice. During this time I spent a second winter in the Antarctic and a season in the Canadian High Arctic investigating the survival strategies that microbes employ at extremes.

In 2007, I became a lecturer at the Scottish Association for Marine Science/University of the Highlands and Islands in Oban, on the west coast of Scotland. I continued my microbial research, specifically viruses and bacteria, and undertook more fieldwork in both the Antarctic and Arctic. I led a course on Marine Conservation and also taught elements of Microbial Ecology, Polar Seas, Marine Resources, Marine Zoology and Defining the Carbon Cycle.

I started work at the Australian Marine Mammal Centre in early 2012. I now combine my passion for conservation and the polar marine environment with experience of coordinating multi-national research projects in my role of Southern Ocean Research Partnership Coordinator.

Selected publications

Papers

van den Hoff, J. & Bell, E.M. The ciliate Mesodinium rubrum and its cryptophyte prey in Antarctic aquatic environments. Polar Biology, 38(8): 1305-1310, DOI 10.1007/s00300-015-1686-z.

Laybourn-Parry, J. & Bell, E.M. (2014) Ace Lake: three decades of research on a meromictic, Antarctic lake. Polar Biology, DOI 10.1007/s00300-014-1553-3.

Cathalot C., Lansard B., Hall P.O.J., Tengberg A., Almroth-Rosell E., Apler A., Calder L., Bell E. & C. Rabouille (2012). Influence of a fish farm on oxygen sediment uptake rates in the Loch Creran (Scotland). Aquatic Geochemistry, 18 (6): 515-541, DOI: 10.1007/s10498-012-9181-4.

Bielewicz, S., Bell, E., Kong, W., Iddo, F., Priscu, J.C., & Morgan-Kiss, R.M. 2010. Distribution of micro-eukaryotes during the transition to polar night in a permanently ice-covered Antarctic lake. ISME, DOI:10.1038/ismej.2011.23.

Bell, E.M. & Weithoff, G. 2008. Spring and early summer recruitment of Heliozoa, rhizopods and rotifers from the sediments of an acidic lake. Lakes and Reservoirs: Research and Management, 13: 105-115.

Soltwedel, T., Lansard, B., Gilbert, F., Hasemann, C., Bell, E., Sablotny, B., Eagle, M., Kershaw, P., Rabouille, C., 2008. An "Integrated Sediment Disturber" (ISD) to study the impact of repeated physical perturbations on the sediment geochemistry and related effects on the small benthic biota. Limnology and Oceanography Methods, 6: 307-318.

Bell, E., Apitz, S.E., Breuer, E. et al. 2008. Integrating New Technologies for the Study of Benthic Ecosystems Response to Human Activity: Towards a Coastal Ocean Benthic Observatory (COBO). Proceedings of the Italian Association of Oceanology and Limnology, 19, Part 1: 73-78.

Park, T-G., Bell, E.M., Pearce, I., Rublee, P.A., Bolch, C.J.S., Hallegraeff, G.M. 2007. Detection of a novel ecotype of Pfiesteria piscicida (Dinophyceae) in an Antarctic saline lake by real time PCR. Polar Biology, 30: 843-848.

Pearce, I., Davidson, A.T., Bell, E.M., Wright, S. 2007. Seasonal changes in the concentration and metabolic activity of bacteria and viruses at an Antarctic coastal site. Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 47: 11-23.

Bell, E.M., Weithoff, G. & Gaedke, U. 2006. Seasonal dynamics and growth of Actinophrys sol (Sarcodina: Heliozoa), the top predator in an extremely acidic lake. Freshwater Biology, 51: 1149-1161.

Schmidtke, A., Bell, E.M. & Weithoff, G. 2006. Grazing impact of the mixotrophic flagellate Ochromonas sp. (Chrysophyceae) on bacteria. Journal of Plankton Research, 98: 991-1001.

Apitz, S.E., Bell, E.M. , Damgaard, L., Gilbert, F., Glud, R.N. , Hall, P.O.J., Kershaw, P.J., Nickell, L.A., Parker, R., Rabouille, C., Shimmield, G.B., Solan, M., Soltwedel, T., Spagnoli, F. & Witte, U. itemIDitemID1452E2005. Coastal Ocean Benthic Observatories (COBO): Integrated tools for the in situ observation and study of benthic ecosystem biogeochemical processes. Abstracts Of Papers Of The American Chemical Society. 230:1791-1792.

Kamjunke, N., Gaedke, U., Tittel, J., Weithoff, G. & Bell, E.M. 2004. Strong vertical differences in the plankton composition of an extremely acidic lake. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, 161: 289-306.

Bell, E.M. & Laybourn-Parry, J. 2003. Mixotrophy in the Antarctic phytoflagellate, Pyramimonas gelidicola. Journal of Phycology, 39: 644-649.

Bell, E.M., Lockyear, J.F., Schulz, J., Marsden, A.D. & Vincent, A.C.J. 2003. First field studies of an endangered South African seahorse, Hippocampus capensis. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 67: 35-46.

Bell, E.M. & Weithoff, G. 2003. The role of microbial recruitment in benthic-pelagic coupling. Journal of Marine Biology and Ecology 285/286: 205-219.

Raffaelli, D., Bell, E.M. et al. 2003. Dealing with the ups and downs of benthic ecology. Journal of Marine Biology and Ecology 285/286: 191-203.

Tittel, J., Bissinger, V., Zippel, B., Gaedke, U., Bell, E.M., Lorke, A. & Kamjunke, N. 2003. Mixotrophs combine resource use to out-compete specialists: implications for aquatic food webs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., 100: 12776-12781.

Bell, E.M. and Vincent, A.C.J. 2000. Gasterosteiforms. Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Laybourn-Parry, J., Roberts, E.C. & Bell, E.M. 2000. Mixotrophy as a survival strategy in Antarctic lakes. In: W. Davidson, C. Howard-Williams & P. Broady (eds.) Antarctic Ecosystems: Models for Wider Ecological Understanding, The Caxton Press, Christchurch, New Zealand, pp. 33-40.

Bell, E.M. & Laybourn-Parry, J. 1999. Annual plankton dynamics in an Antarctic saline lake. Freshwater Biology, 41: 507-519.

Bell, E.M. & Laybourn-Parry, J. 1999. The plankton community of a young, eutrophic, Antarctic saline lake. Polar Biology, 22: 248-253.

Laybourn-Parry, J., Bell, E.M. & Roberts, E.C. 1999. Growth of Protozoa in Antarctic lakes. Polar Biology, 23: 443-451.

Maranzana, G., Bell, E., Bozo, S. & Talarico, L. 1996. Response of the red alga Audouinella saviana (meneghini) woelkerling to cadmium: Preliminary observations. Giornale Botanico Italiano, 130 (4-6): 76-79.

Books

Bell, E.M. (Ed.) 2012. Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 554.

Book chapters

Narayanaswamy, B.E., Menot, L., Rowden, A., Lamont, P., Bett, B.J. & Bell, E. 2015, In Press. Corers and grabs. In: Clark, M., Consalvey, M. & Rowden, A. (Eds). Biological Sampling in the Deep-Sea. Wiley-Blackwell, pp.488.

Bell, E.M. 2012. Alkaline environments and alkaliphiles. In: Bell, E.M. (Ed.) Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 380-401.

Bell, E.M. 2012. Concluding remarks. In: Bell, E.M. (Ed.) Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 537-540.

Bell, E.M. & Callaghan, T.V. 2012. What are extreme environments and what lives in them? In: Bell, E.M. (Ed.) Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 1-12.

Bell, E.M. & Heuer, V. 2012. The Deep Biosphere: deep subterranean and subseafloor habitats. In: Bell, E.M. (Ed.) Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 345-363.

Laybourn-Parry, J. & Bell, E.M. 2012. High altitude and latitude lakes. In: Bell, E.M. (Ed.) Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 103-121.

Arora, R. & Bell, E.M. 2012. Biotechnological Applications of Extremophiles: Promise and Prospects. In: Bell, E.M. (Ed.) Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 498-521.

Gómez, F.G., Barták, M. & Bell, E.M. 2012. Extreme environments on Earth as analogues for life on other planets: Astrobiology. In: Bell, E.M. (Ed.) Life at Extremes: Environments, Organisms and Strategies for Survival. CAB International, Wallingford, United Kingdom, pp. 522-536.

Commissioned reports

Department of the Environment. 2013. Coordinated research framework to assess the national conservation status of Australian snubfin dolphins (Orcaella heinsohni) and other tropical inshore dolphins. pp. 25.

Bell, E., Brennan, R., Nickell, T., Potts, T., Valcic, B. & Wilson, H. 2010. Making the case for sound management of Marine Protected Areas. Commissioned report for Scottish Environment LINK. Scottish Association for Marine Science Internal Report 267. pp. 93.

IWC reports

Bell, E.M. (2014) Annual report of Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP) 2013/14. Submitted to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. SC/65b/SH12.

Bell, E.M. (2013) Annual report of Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP) 2012/13. Submitted to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. SC/65a/O11.

Bell, E.M. (2012) Annual report of Southern Ocean Research Partnership (SORP) 2011/12. Submitted to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission. SC/64/O13.