In 2011, Bell became vice president of the Ocean Exploration Trust. 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. The Nautilus Exploration Program is an open science initiative, which shares the process and outcomes of ocean exploration with everyone. The expedition attracted a variety of media coverage, and Bell gave several interviews and lectures. In addition being a leader of expeditions, Bell is also a lecturer of underwater exploration and technology. In 2014, she was a
MIT Media Lab Director's Fellow. In 2015, she used
telepresence technology to participate in
Nautilus expeditions in the Gulf of Mexico and eastern Pacific Ocean. She led a team of MIT explorers on a deep-ocean exploration off the coast of Southern California in 2016. In 2017, as an MIT Visiting Scientist, she created the Open Ocean initiative at the
Media Lab. Bell is developing technology for ocean exploration projects, to allow for remote science and education, which is no longer active. Bell also said that, at the Open Ocean initiative, she is reimagining the future of ocean exploration and storytelling. Bell is vice chair of the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee and a
PADI Advanced Open Water Diver. In July 2017, she became the first female Technology Fellow at
National Geographic. She is a founding member of the , a group formed to find solutions to ocean problems. In 2021, Bell founded the nonprofit Ocean Discovery League, which focuses on expanding access to deep-sea exploration through the development of low-cost technologies. One such effort was the Deep Ocean Research and Imaging System (DORIS), a compact deep-submergence vehicle developed in partnership with Blue Robotics and funded by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. == References ==