ABOUT DR ROB

The short story

(As the name suggests, there is also a long story, if you have the time or inclination). But below is a short, snappy, cut and paste type bio, plus some bragging bits.)
He'll wrangle a snake, blow up a perfectly good can of chips, or even get flung around a theme park, all in the name of discovery. Dr Rob Bell is probably best known for donning his trusty white lab coat and jumping into science (sometimes literally), as the host of the kid's science TV show Scope.  His enthusiasm for science is infectious, his curiosity is never ending, but best of all he can relate it all in a way that kids (and adults) understand and enjoy.
He says that his love of science (and particularly the environment) came from growing up on a pineapple farm, where he became passionate about the impact that humans have on the environment and natural resources. It also gave him the chance to tinker with machines and just generally find out how stuff worked.
Dr Rob has a Bachelor of Science with Honours and a PhD in materials chemistry from the University of Queensland. And it was at university that he also held another prestigious title, that of "President - The Chocolate Appreciation Society". He has worked as a Science Education Officer for the CSIRO, teaching students about science in the lab and at schools, and spent nearly 11 years hosting the (award winning) Scope. ​
He has been lucky enough to meet Nobel laureates, astronauts and sporting legends. He has seen a space shuttle up close and flown with a jetpack, but his favourite place is a grand ballroom carved completely out of rock salt in an underground mine in Poland.

He has written some kids books called The F.A.R.T. Files (with a sprinkling of science of course) and has a science education website (Experimentary). He also spends a fair bit of time helping to organise the World Science Festival Brisbane, amongst other things.​

AWARDS, APPEARANCES AND ARTICLES

AWARDS
​
  • Scope was shortlisted for the International Prix Jeunesse awards for children's television in 2005.
  • Scope was nominated for the "Most Outstanding Children's Program" at the 2006 and 2012 Logie awards.
  • Scope won the 2008 Japan Prize, an award for outstanding educational children's television. (I was even flown to Tokyo to collect the prize (and meet their royal family)).
Japan Prize 2008
Spot the odd one out?
ARTICLES (PUBLISHED SCIENCE RESEARCH PAPERS)
​
  • FT Raman spectroscopic characterization of oxalate precursors to YBCO superconductors
    GJ Millar, RJ Bell, A Bhargava, IDR Mackinnon… - Materials Letters, 1995

  • Fine-grained Y2Cu2O5 powder from a co-precipitated precursor
    A Bhargava, JA Alarco, GJ Millar, R Bell, T Yamashita… - Materials Letters, 1996

  • Influence of synthesis route on the catalytic properties of La1− xSrxMnO3
    RJ Bell, GJ Millar, J Drennan - Solid State Ionics, 2000

  • Neck length and mean arterial pressure in the sauropod dinosaurs
    ​Hughes, Stephen, John Barry, Jeremy Russell, Robert Bell, and Som Gurung - Journal of Experimental Biology, 2016
APPEARANCES

CHILDREN'S TV:
  • ​Host, Scope, Network Ten, 2005 - 2016
  • Many, many guest appearances, Network Ten kid's shows (such as Totally Wild and Toasted TV), 2005 - 2016
  • Regular Guest, BrainBuzz, Nine Network, 2018

DOCUMENTARIES:
  • Travelling Around (host), Network Ten, 2008
  • Fuelling the Future (host), Network Ten, 2010
  • Kakadu Invasion (host), Network Ten, 2012
  • Alien Crustacean (host), Network Ten, 2014

QUIZ SHOWS:
  • The Einstein Factor (as part of the brains trust), ABC, 2009

INTERNATIONAL: 
  • The Rachel Ray Show - They flew me over twice to do science segments that went out to an audience of millions. You can still watch one of them, where we "walk on water".

LIVE SHOWS/MC'ING
  • World Science Festival Brisbane, (various roles incl. MC, experiments, Dr Karl's offsider) 2016 -
  • Regional Flavours Food Festival (live science shows)
  • Schools, Teacher conferences and many many more.
Making ice cream
Ice cream ala liquid nitrogen.
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