Elizabeth Bell undertook her undergraduate studies in Natural Sciences at St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge, U.K., before receiving her master's degree in biotechnology at the same institution. Elizabeth then completed her doctorate at the University of Manchester, U.K., under the supervision of Professor Anthony Green. Her doctoral work focused on the directed evolution and engineering of plastic degrading enzymes with an emphasis on poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Elizabeth joined NREL as a postdoctoral researcher in 2022. Her current research focus is on the discovery, engineering, and optimization of enzymes for the biocatalytic recycling of nylons and polyurethanes.  

For additional information, see Elizabeth L. Bell's LinkedIn profile. Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed on LinkedIn are the author’s own, made in the author's individual capacity, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NREL.

Research Interests

Biocatalytic recycling 
 
Enzyme engineering 
 
Plastic degradation and upcycling 

Education

Ph.D., Directed Evolution of PET Degrading Enzymes, University of Manchester
 
M.Phil., Biotechnology, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge
 
B.A., Natural Sciences, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge

Professional Experience

Lecturer Assistant, University of Manchester (2020–2022)

Featured Work

Directed Evolution of an Efficient and Thermostable PET Depolymerase, Nature Catalysis (2022)

Directed Evolution of an Efficient and Thermostable PET Depolymerase, Enzyme Engineering XXVI Conference (2022)

Modern Developments in Biocatalysis, Modern Developments in Catalysis (2023) 

Biocatalysis, Nature Reviews Methods Primers (2021)

GeneORator: An Effective Strategy for Navigating Protein Sequence Space More Efficiently through Boolean OR-Type DNA Libraries, ACS Synthetic Biology (2019)

Awards and Honors

Evolution and Genomics Conference 1st Prize Talk, University of Manchester (2018–2020)

Doctoral Academy Conference 1st Prize Talk, University of Manchester (2019)

MRC & BBSRC Conference 2nd Prize Poster, University of Manchester (2019)

Frank Smart Prize, University of Cambridge (2016)

Belfield Clarke Prize in Biological Sciences, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge (2016)

Thomas Hobbes Scholarship Prize, St Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge (2013–2016)