Graham Bell (biologist) explained

Graham Bell
Birth Date:1949 3, df=yes
Birth Place:Leicester, England
Residence:Quebec, Canada-->
Thesis Title:The life of the smooth newt (Triturus vulgaris (Linn))
Thesis Url:http://solo.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/OXVU1:LSCOP_OX:oxfaleph013211675
Thesis Year:1973
Fields:Evolutionary biology
Workplaces:
Education:Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys
Alma Mater:St Peter's College, Oxford
Awards:
Children:3

Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (born 3 March 1949) is a British academic, writer, and evolutionary biologist with interests in the evolution of sexual reproduction and the maintenance of variation. He developed the "tangled bank" theory of evolutionary genetics after observing the asexual and sexual behaviour patterns of aphids as well as monogonont rotifers.

Early life and education

Bell was born on 3 March 1949 in Leicester, England, to Arthur Charlton Bell and Edna May Bell . He was educated at Wyggeston Grammar School for Boys and St Peter's College, Oxford, where he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1970 followed by a Doctor of Philosophy degree in animal ecology in 1973 for research on smooth newts.[1] [2]

Career and research

Bell emigrated to Canada in 1975 where he worked as a biologist for the Alberta Civil Service until 1976. In 1976, he joined the faculty of McGill University as a temporary lecturer. He was appointed a Professor in 1989. In 1992, he was appointed Molson Chair of Genetics. He was Director of the Redpath Museum from 1995 to 2005.[3]

He is the author of The Masterpiece of Nature[4] which was described by Richard Dawkins as a 'beautifully written tour de force',[5] Sex and Death in Protozoa: The History of Obsession[6] and Selection: The Mechanism of Evolution first published in 1996 with a second edition in 2008.[7] His other books include The Evolution of Life[8] and The Basics of Selection.[9]

Bell was a co-founder and founding President of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution.[10]

Honours and awards

Bell was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1994.[11] He was awarded the Léo-Pariseau Prize in 2002 and the Prix Marie-Victorin in 2004.[12] He was elected President of the Royal Society of Canada in 2013,[13] and became a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2014.[14] He was elected a fellow of the Royal Society in 2016.[15] In 2022 he received the Flavelle Medal.[16]

Personal life

Bell married Susan Eva Rosinger in 1971. They have three sons.

External links

Notes and References

  1. DPhil . Graham . Arthur Charlton Bell . The life of the smooth newt (Triturus vulgaris (Linn)) . University of Oxford . 1973 . 43160959 .
  2. Bell . Graham . 1977 . The Life of the Smooth Newt (Triturus vulgaris) after Metamorphosis. Ecological Monographs . 47 . 3 . 279–299 . 10.2307/1942518. 1942518 .
  3. Web site: Directors of the Past and Present . . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080129042900/http://www.mcgill.ca/redpath/welcome/directors/ . 29 January 2008 .
  4. Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (1982) The Masterpiece of Nature: the Evolution and Genetics of Sexuality. Croom Helm, London; University of California Press, Berkeley.
  5. Richard Dawkins (2004) The Ancestor's Tale, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p. 358
  6. Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (1989) Sex and Death in Protozoa: the History of an Obsession. Cambridge University Press
  7. Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (2008) Selection: the Mechanism of Evolution, second edition. Oxford University Press.
  8. Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (2015) The Evolution of Life. Oxford University Press.
  9. Graham Arthur Charlton Bell (1996) The Basics of Selection. Chapman & Hall, New York and London.
  10. . Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution
  11. Web site: Search Fellows The Royal Society of Canada. rsc-src.ca. en. 2018-01-30. 31 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180131023212/https://rsc-src.ca/en/search-fellows?keywords_44=&first_name=graham&last_name=bell&display_name=&election_year_21=&academy_25=All&division_24=All&discipline_23=All&is_deceased=0&sort_by=last_name&sort_order=ASC. dead.
  12. Web site: Prix Marie-Victorin 2004. Les Prix du Québec. 8 November 2004 . fr.
  13. Web site: PRESIDENT-ELECT DR. GRAHAM BELL. sc-src.ca.
  14. Web site: Graham A.C. Bell elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences : McGill Reporter. publications.mcgill.ca. en-US. 2018-01-30. 31 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180131023649/http://publications.mcgill.ca/reporter/2014/04/graham-a-c-bell-elected-to-the-american-academy-of-arts-and-sciences/. dead.
  15. Web site: Professor Graham Bell FRS . royalsociety.org . Anon . 2016 . London . https://web.archive.org/web/20160923140508/https://royalsociety.org/people/graham-bell-12846/ . 23 September 2016 . One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from the royalsociety.org website where:
  16. Web site: Three McGill Professors Receive Royal Society of Canada Medals - AcademicGates .