Katy Croff Bell

Katy Croff Bell
Bell interviewed by Joichi Ito in 2016
Alma mater
Known forOcean Exploration
Scientific career
Institutions

Katy Croff Bell is a marine explorer who has been on more than 30 oceanographic and archaeological expeditions including in the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean. She is also an American Association for Advancement of Science If/Then Ambassador in recognition of her work to interest girls in STEM careers.[citation needed]

Education

Bell received a bachelor of science in ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000, working with Professor David Mindell in the Deepwater Archaeology group.[1][2] Following college, she spent 2001 as a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration.[3] She completed a master's degree in maritime archaeology at the University of Southampton, before moving to the Graduate School of Oceanography in Rhode Island.[4][5] She was appointed a National Geographic Emerging Explorer in 2006.[6][7] At the University of Rhode Island, she was awarded the Ada Sawyer Award in 2007 and the Robert McMaster Award in 2008.[8] Bell completed Doctor of Philosophy degree, "On the Origin of Submarine Sediment Features in the Southern Aegean Sea," at the University of Rhode Island in 2011, under the supervision of Robert Ballard.[9]

Research and career

In 2011, Bell became vice president of the Ocean Exploration Trust.[10][11] She was Chief Scientist of Robert Ballard's exploration vessel E/V Nautilus, overseeing expeditions to the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, eastern Pacific Ocean and the Aegean Sea.[12][13] The Nautilus Exploration Program is an open science initiative, which shares the process and outcomes of ocean exploration with everyone.[14] The expedition attracted a variety of media coverage, and Bell gave several interviews and lectures.[15][16][17][18]

In addition being a leader of expeditions, Bell is also a lecturer of underwater exploration and technology.[19] In 2014, she was a MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow.[20] In 2015, she used telepresence technology to participate in Nautilus expeditions in the Gulf of Mexico and eastern Pacific Ocean.[2] That year, she took part in the social media campaign #ILookLikeAnEngineer.[21] She led a team of MIT explorers on a deep-ocean exploration off the coast of Southern California in 2016.[22] In 2017, as an MIT Visiting Scientist, she created the Open Ocean initiative at the Media Lab.[14][23] Bell is developing technology for ocean exploration projects, to allow for remote science and education,[24] which no longer active.[25] Bell also said that, at the Open Ocean initiative, she is reimagining the future of ocean exploration and storytelling.[26]

Bell is vice chair of the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee[27] and a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver.[citation needed] In July 2017, she became the first female Technology Fellow at National Geographic.[28] She is a founding member of the Ocean Collectiv Archived May 27, 2020, at the Wayback Machine, a group formed to find solutions to ocean problems.[29][30]

References

  1. ^ "Expeditions". web.mit.edu. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  2. ^ a b Maxwell, Jill Hecht (February 18, 2015). "Katy Croff Bell '00 Brings Oceanic Exploration to the Desktop". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  3. ^ "Katy Croff Bell". fabfems.org. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  4. ^ "GSO on National Geographic This Sunday". URI’s Graduate School of Oceanography. May 16, 2014. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  5. ^ "Sub hunters strike gold beneath the waves". dofundodomar.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  6. ^ Favorite, Crowd (January 31, 2006). "Theoretical Physicist, Adventure Photographer Among New Class Of National Geographic Emerging Explorers". National Geographic Partners Press Room. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  7. ^ "Katy Croff Bell". National Geographic Expeditions. August 30, 2018. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  8. ^ "Of Interest". riwba.com. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  9. ^ Katherine Lynn Croff Bell (January 1, 2011). "On the origin of submarine sediment features in the southern Aegean Sea". Dissertations and Master's Theses (Campus Access). Paper AAI3450922.: 1–146. Archived from the original on March 2, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  10. ^ "Webb Middle Science Teacher Kirk Beckendorft to Embark on Deep-Sea Expedition". Webb School of Knoxville. August 26, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2018.[permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ "Ocean Exploration Trust Staff". Ocean Exploration Trust. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  12. ^ "Meet the Team". Nautilus Live. Archived from the original on July 1, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  13. ^ NAUTILUS LIVE 2012 | Aegean Sea Leg with Chief Scientist Katy Croff Bell, August 30, 2012, retrieved April 10, 2022
  14. ^ a b "Katy Croff Bell". MIT Media Lab Director's Fellows. Archived from the original on March 21, 2019. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  15. ^ Blackwell's Bookshops (June 26, 2013), Ocean exploration: Interview with Dr Katy Croff Bell, retrieved January 18, 2018
  16. ^ "The Future of the Past: Day 2". FIA. December 10, 2013. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  17. ^ "Plenary Presenters". stem.ky. Archived from the original on February 23, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  18. ^ "Interview with Chief Scientist Katy Croff Bell | Nautilus Live". nautiluslive.org. August 12, 2011. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  19. ^ Max Seigal (May 16, 2014). "Sailing/Cape Sounion, Greece". expeditions.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  20. ^ Joi Ito (July 10, 2014). "Announcing the Director's Fellows Cohort 2". MIT MEDIA LAB. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  21. ^ Stephanie McFeeters (August 4, 2015). "#ILookLikeAnEngineer campaign supported by women at MIT, Kendall Square, and elsewhere". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  22. ^ "An Ocean Exploration on Board of the Nautilus E/V". MIT Media Lab Director's Fellows. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  23. ^ Katy Croff Bell (Director). "Group Overview". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  24. ^ "Katy Croff Bell". Nautilus Live. February 6, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  25. ^ "Group Overview ‹ Open Ocean". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  26. ^ "Katy Croff Bell". National Geographic. October 20, 2015. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  27. ^ "Profile: Katy". Ocean Collectiv. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  28. ^ Ito, Joi (December 24, 2016). "Conversation with Ocean Explorer Katy Croff Bell". Joi Ito. Retrieved January 18, 2018 – via joi.ito.com.
  29. ^ Lauren Hertel (November 5, 2017). "Johnson launches new consulting firm for ocean problems". Robert & Patricia Switzer Foundation. Archived from the original on January 19, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  30. ^ "Person Overview ‹ Katy Croff Bell". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved April 10, 2022.