In Memoriam

In Memoriam –  Barbara Bell

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Dr. Barbara Allen Bell on January 13, 2025, at the age of 52. Barbara was a sea turtle scientist and conservationist who made important discoveries about the development of leatherback turtle and freshwater turtle eggs. She was also an artist, singer, gardener, and advocate for the disabled. She was a great friend of the turtles and The Leatherback Trust. She played an important role in the establishment of Parque Nacional Marino Las Baulas in Costa Rica.

Barbara earned her BS in biology from the College of William and Mary and her MS and Ph.D. degrees in Environmental Science at Drexel University with Dr. Jim Spotila. For her master’s degree, she discovered that the low reproductive success of leatherback turtles was due to high mortality of the eggs, not low fertility as previously thought. It had long been thought that leatherback turtle mothers laid many infertile eggs since when nests on the beach were excavated after hatchlings emerged there were many eggs without visible embryos. Barbara did a clever series of experiments in which she incubated half of a clutch of eggs in a laboratory incubator and half in its original nest. She discovered that fertility of eggs for 17 females averaged 93.3% and that embryos that died did so mainly early in incubation so that by the time of hatching no embryo could be seen in eggs remaining in the nest. This changed the way that biologists looked at the process of egg development in leatherbacks.

 For her Ph.D. Barbara discovered that there was a high incidence of deformities in snapping turtle and painted turtle eggs at the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge in Philadelphia associated with long term background pollution in the refuge. An oil spill in 2000 contaminated the refuge and in that year embryonic death and the incidence of deformities in turtles contaminated with oil was higher than in other years. Her results demonstrated the need to clean up legacy pollution in wildlife refuges and to prevent new pollution if those refuges are to continue as protected areas for turtles.

Until chronic illness sidelined Barbara, she continued to be active as a scientist. She played a key role in the 2001 International Sea Turtle Symposium in Philadelphia when the International Sea Turtle Society was founded and authored papers on freshwater and sea turtles.

An accomplished artist, Barbara designed the logo for the 21^st International Sea Turtle Symposium and provided illustrations and drawings for “The Leatherback Turtle, Biology and Conservation” in 2015.

Barbara struggled with poor health for many years, but she maintained a positive attitude and helped many in the chronic illness community. Barbara cared about how we interact with the world and each other. She said “I don’t think people should try to hurt other people. I think we should be taking better care of the planet than we are.” She made the world a better place for turtles and for people. No one can have a better legacy.

Her time with us was all too brief, but we are better off for the time she was able to share with us. She is already missed.