Assoc. Prof. Tina Bell is an academic in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences at the University of Sydney. She obtained her BSc and PhD from the Department of Botany at the University of Western Australia and was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Botany at the University of Cape Town. She has researched the ecophysiology of native plants including species from the families Ericaceae, Fabaceae, Myrtaceae, Restionaceae, and Poaceae for many years.
Tina’s research spans the effect of bushfire on plants and fungi and their roles in ecosystem processes. She was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship in 2009 which took her to the University of California Berkeley to research the effects of smoke from bushfire on the physiology of wine grapevines. Most recently she has done research into physiology of native grasses, particularly those that were once used as a source of grain for Indigenous communities. Tina supervises a number of local and international undergraduate and postgraduate students who are working in forests and farming systems in NSW.
Tina was awarded an Australian Flora Foundation research grant in 2006. She was appointed to the AFF Council in May 2011 and has edited the newsletter since 2016.