Miss Bell, 26, who is the sixth generation to live at the historic Shag Valley Station in the Pig Root, recently submitted her PhD which explored aspects of soil chemistry and legumes.
She focused on investigations of soil aluminium and legumes for pastoral farming in the Central Otago high country. That research explored controls of aluminium solubility and spatial variability, and assessed the survival of 13 novel and traditional legume species across field trials at three properties.
Growing up in Shag Valley, she was always interested in farming and her interest in science deepened while she was a pupil at St Hilda’s Collegiate.
That could have been inherited from her great-great grandfather Alfred Bell, who was dux at Otago Boys’ High School, but his parents could not afford to send him to university and, aged 16, he returned to Shag Valley as a shepherd, later taking over management of the property.
He was able to continue his interest in science and had his own laboratory, known as the "chemistry shop", on the station. It has been retained in its entirety, still filled with labelled bottles, test tubes and other scientific equipment and books full of his writings.
In 1888, he was sent by the New Zealand government to an island near Sydney to spend six months with a team from the Pasteur Institute in an attempt to discover a bacillus to control rabbits.
He was a fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, the Royal Chemical Society and the Royal Astronomical Society. He set up, with Cadet Logan, what was possibly the first telephone connection in New Zealand, and he became one of New Zealand’s leading analytical chemists and spent much time analysing mineral samples.
He discovered scheelite while collecting straggler sheep from a neighbouring run-holder, which was very timely as, during World War 1, it was an essential mineral used for hardening gun barrels.
Miss Bell completed an agricultural science degree at Lincoln University, with honours. In her first year, she was the recipient of Ravensdown’s Hugh Williams Memorial University Scholarship and she later worked in the fertiliser industry.
It was her honours supervisor who suggested she did a PhD, the research being an an extension of her honours dissertation. She looked at two novel legume species in high country acidic soil under glasshouse conditions.
Her research based in Central Otago looked at soil acidity and those legumes, which had been assessed by many honours students, which had shown tolerance to acidity in the glasshouse. The next step was to test them in the field.
She conducted her research on three properties, Avenal Station, Armidale and Mt Grand, and she was very grateful for the farmers who allowed her to do that.
She selected the properties to represent the climate and temperature profile across Central Otago and she looked at 13 novel and traditional legume species, her objective being to test their survival.
"Lots died, a few survived," she said succinctly.
From those, a few key species had been identified for acidic high country soils. Describing her work as a "key stepping stone", she said there was more research needed to establish those species and grow and manage them.
Family members had all helped out during her work — her mother Tanya was "pretty critical" while father Johnny helped her get 1000 litres of water up a hill.
The field trial was just one part of her work. She also had soil surveys, lab work and chemical analysis, and she spent more of the last 12 months of her PhD writing.
She handed it in in September and she was now waiting for it to be marked — which could take anywhere from four to six months post-submission — and that would be followed by an oral defence.
In the interim, she was working on Shag Valley Station over the summer — "living the dream, really" — and she hoped to go travelling with her boyfriend for a few months next year and would then be looking for a job.
"I love farming and I love science and I love working with people. Something that integrates all those aspects would be the dream," she said.
She was keen to apply her own experiences, coupled with what she had got from her PhD, to help farmers. The applied side particularly appealed to her.
"I think it’s [agriculture] a really exciting sector to be a part of. There’s challenges ahead, there’s definitely opportunities, and . . . it’s a really supportive industry. There’s lots of amazing people in it and lots of amazing people to work for, and mentors and people who are willing to help you," she said.
She also stressed the importance of the sector to New Zealand as a whole.
Miss Bell quipped that top of her CV was being awarded the Good Bastards trophy this year by the Boar Breeders Association, which runs a highly entertaining and hotly contested pig competition at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch.
She was in her first year on the association’s committee, having been convinced into going to a meeting by her boyfriend, as a way to take a break from the computer during her studies.
Basically, it was about getting a group together, dressing up in that syndicate and showing off a pig that the group had raised. A ball was held after the event.
Miss Bell was part of the all-female Pork Nuggets syndicate and every year their pig was called Captain Pat. This year, they entered Captain Pat the Fifth — while it was only their third year of entering, they "had a couple of false starts" with the other Pats.
So far, the Pork Nuggets were yet to achieve success, either with their Pats or their outfits — there is a best-dressed component to the competition. Asked why she was awarded the trophy, she suspected it was because she cooked the barbecue — "and sacrificed my yellow [competition] shirt which still has grease stains".
As for the all-important question — does she play rugby? Miss Bell laughed that she left that to her brothers Henry (Highlanders hooker) and George (All Blacks hooker) — "although my halfback throw is improving".
Whenever the boys were back home on the station, they practised their throws and "someone has to return the ball".
"I only sometimes hit the car," she laughed.
The siblings were all very supportive of each other’s endeavours and Miss Bell’s break from writing this winter was watching them play.
