[citation needed] Bell received a bachelor of science in ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000, working with Professor David Mindell in the Deepwater Archaeology group.

[1][2] Following college, she spent 2001 as a John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellow in the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration.

[3] She completed a master's degree in maritime archaeology at the University of Southampton, before moving to the Graduate School of Oceanography in Rhode Island.

[8] Bell completed Doctor of Philosophy degree, "On the Origin of Submarine Sediment Features in the Southern Aegean Sea," at the University of Rhode Island in 2011, under the supervision of Robert Ballard.

[26] Bell is vice chair of the Marine Protected Areas Federal Advisory Committee[27] and a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver.