Bell, Nina, 1957-
Biographical note
Nina Bell was born to American parents in Venezuela in 1957. During her childhood, the family moved frequently, living in multiple locations in Europe and the United States before settling in Seattle, Washington, in the late 1960s. She attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, but left in 1977 to become involved in the movement against nuclear power. She completed her bachelor’s degree in 1986 at Antioch University in Seattle, and in 1991, she earned a law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland. In 1988, she became executive director of Northwest Environmental Advocates in Portland, which, among other efforts, specialized in using litigation to implement and enforce the Clean Water Act in Oregon.
Sources: Information provided by Bell in her interview; Bell’s LinkedIn profile; "Our History: 1969 to today," Northwest Environmental Advocates website, (accessed February 2026), https://northwestenvironmentaladvocates.org/about-us/our-history/.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Oral history interview with Nina Bell
Oral history interview with Nina Bell, conducted by Clark Hansen in two sessions, on June 1, 1999, and July 26, 1999, as part of the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series. Bell discusses her history of environmental activism, including her participation in advocacy to decommission Trojan Nuclear Power Plant in Oregon, and her work as a lawyer with Northwest Environmental Advocates to implement the Clean Water Act in Oregon, particularly in relation to the Willamette River.