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Robert Bell was a Canadian geologist, professor and civil servant, and is considered one of Canada’s greatest exploring scientists, having named over 3000 geographical features. He was born in Toronto in 1841 to Presbyterian clergyman and amateur geologist, Reverend Andrew Bell, and Elizabeth Notman. In 1873 he married Agnes Smith, with whom he had four children.
As a teenager Bell worked as a summer assistant to Sir William Edmond Logan with the Geological Survey of Canada; by 1859 he was heading his own survey party. He was educated at McGill University, where he studied under John William Dawson. In 1861 he earned a civil engineering degree and the Governor General’s Medal. He studied for a further two years at the University of Edinburgh. In 1863 he was appointed professor of chemistry and natural sciences at Queen’s College, Kingston, but continued summer fieldwork for the Geographical Survey. In 1867 he joined the Survey full-time, where he remained until his retirement in 1908. He died in 1917.