Robert James Bell
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|
Robert Bell | |
|---|---|
 In the Scope Lab Studio | |
| Born | 10 April 1975 |
| Nationality |  Australian |
| Other names | Dr Rob |
| Education | PhD - Material Chemistry and Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Occupation | Education Officer |
| Employer | CSIRO |
| Known for | Host of Network TEN programme, Scope |
Dr Rob (Robert James Bell, born 10 April 1975 ) is the host of the Australian children's television programme Scope[1] where Dr Rob breaks down the science of subjects relevant to school-aged children. Dr Rob is employed at CSIRO as a science education officer.[2]
Education
[edit]Dr Rob studied science at the University of Queensland, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in 1994, and going on to a complete an honours year in 1995, writing a thesis on superconductors. In 1996, he went directly into his PhD in the field of Material Chemistry, which he graduated in 2000.[3] His PhD thesis was entitled "Investigation and characterisation of co-precipitation syntheses for the production of La1-xSrxMnO3" in the field of "Solid oxide fuel cells using Perovskite and ceramic powders".[4]
After 12 months traveling and work in Europe,[1] he returned to Australia and commenced work at the Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) in the education children's division, where he visited schools & juvenile detention centres presenting scientific experiments & explanations for the audience.
Major interests
[edit]Dr Rob is keen soccer player, playing during his study years for the UQ Soccer Club.[5] He continued to play after his graduation and went on to become the joint treasurer in 2001, and was sole treasurer from 2002 till 2007.[6] In 2007, he was awarded the UQ Soccer Club service award for being the best keeper for the club, creation of the club alumni and the years served as club treasurer.[5]
Dr Rob 's enjoyment of chocolate was made evident while studying at the University of Queensland. He joined the Chocolate appreciation society and was eventually made president. This included hosting a chocolate tasting each semester. The society at the time had a membership of 700.[1][7]
Work
[edit]In 2001, Bell commenced work at the CSIRO Science Education Centre (CSIROSEC) in Brisbane as science education officer, where he was initially involved with the schools programme for Southern Queensland and Science on Saturdays.[1][8]
A side task to his employment was appearances on the television programme Totally Wild and later became the host of a new programme called Scope.
In 2005, Bell gave the keynote address at the District conference of Coopers Plains Learning Community, where he presented the topic "Making Links with the Wider Community".[9]
Totally Wild
[edit]Bell appeared on Totally Wild on Tuesdays in the scientific segment. Over the two years that he spent doing this segment, he developed his character of "Dr Rob".
Scope
[edit]
Network Ten in conjunction with CSIRO developed a programme called Scope, initially airing on Mondays at 4pm. New episodes now airs at 8am Thursdays and repeat episodes air at 9am Saturdays on Eleven.
Dr Rob has been described as a "mad scientist", as well as being "zany" and "mad capped".[1] This is most likely to the very animated style of his TV personality.
Dr Rob's appearances on Scope are nearly always in his signature white lab coat, even scuba diving in it one episode about marine life. This can also be seen in any publicity photograph of himself or Scope, as he was even wearing it when receiving the Japan prize in Tokyo.
He eventually passed on the reins to Lee Constable who hosted the show from 20 August 2016 forward.
Awards
[edit]In 2006, Scope was nominated for "Most Outstanding Children's Program" in the 2006 TV Week Logie awards.[10] Scope won the 2008 Japan Prize,[11] an award for outstanding educational children's television, 2008 for best television series.[12][13] Dr Rob flew to Tokyo to collect the prize on 28 October 2008.
Other appearances
[edit]In February 2008, Dr Rob flew to New York City to appear on the Rachael Ray Show, where he used a food theme to demonstrate some scientific principles, using ingredients such as corn starch and hydrogen peroxide. The episode went to air on 16 Feb 2009 and can be viewed on the "Rachel Ray Show" website.[14]
He made a second appearance on 3 July 2009 performing some spectacular experiments for 4 July. This also can be viewed on the "Rachel Ray Show" website.[15]
Dr Rob also appeared as a member of the Brains Trust on episode 13 of The Einstein Factor, on ABC Television in Australia, which went to air on 3 May 2009.[16]
Most recently, Dr Rob hosted the Big Bloody Experiment in 2023's National Science Week, a campaign aimed at educating children about blood with fun experiments and workshops. This was sponsored by Lifeblood.[17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Dr Rob's CSIRO bio". CSIRO. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
- ^ "Scope TV". Network TEN. Retrieved 9 February 2008.
- ^ "Dr Robert Bell - UQ Graduate School, the University of Queensland". Archived from the original on 22 November 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2009.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 19 February 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2009.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ a b "UQ Sport". www.uqsport.uq.edu.au. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "UQ Soccer - Honours Board of Past Executive". Archived from the original on 24 October 2008. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
- ^ "Study Australia". www.study-australia.com. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ "CSIRO Science Education Centre (South Queensland) (Overview)". www.csiro.au. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007.
- ^ "Coopers Plains Learning Community - 2005 District Conferences - Key Note and Presenter Bios". Archived from the original on 14 September 2007. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
- ^ Logie Awards of 2006#Outstanding Awards
- ^ "NHK JAPAN PRIZE". www.nhk.or.jp. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008.
- ^ "News Centre". Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
- ^ "JAPAN PRIZE International Contest for Educational Media".
- ^ "Amazing Science Experiments". 25 May 2009.
- ^ "Fourth of July Fireworks". 24 June 2009.
- ^ "The Einstein Factor: The Brains Trust". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 3 April 2004.
- ^ "Experimentary - the Big Bloody Experiment - Register Your School!". 30 June 2024.
Further reading
[edit]- "Postgraduate Prospectus for Australian Students, 2006; Graduate profile" (PDF). University of Queensland. p. 72. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
- Leading Children’s Show Focuses on Nanotechnology
- Amazing Science Experiments on Rachel Ray Show
- Fourth of July Fireworks on Rachel Ray Show