Contributor Biography
Mr. Shell is Research Communications Manager in the office of the Vice President of Research at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He is also a freelance science writer. He became involved in the Internet as soon as it appeared, and created one of the first websites to popularize SFU research.
In 1995, he created science.ca, which is now the top Google hit for searches on Canadian science. He has written four books, and has done freelance science reporting on CBC radio, as well as numerous magazines and newspapers including The Globe and Mail, The New York Times, and Adbusters.
Originally from Winnipeg, he has a BSc in Organic Chemistry from Reed College in Portland, OR (1974) and an MSc in Resource Management Science from UBC (1985). In 1986, he founded Softshell Small Systems Software Design Inc., a software training and development corporation involved with spreadsheet and database development for Macintosh, though today the company is primarily concerned with science communications.
He was a registered Apple Developer and a registered Microsoft Developer in 1988 when he wrote Concise Guide to HyperTalk and Running HyperCard with HyperTalk, both published by MIS Press, Henry Holt & Co, New York. In 1995, he co-authored Point and Click Internet, published by Reed Books Canada. His most recent book, Sensational Scientists profiles 24 of Canada's greatest scientists. It was published by Raincoast Books and won a national book award in 2005.
