Bella S. Galil is a curator in the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, previously a Senior Scientist with the National Institute of Oceanography, Haifa, where she specialized in benthic surveys and monitoring. Her research interests comprise anthropogenic changes of macrobenthos in coastal and deep waters, dynamics/conservation of marine biodiversity, decapod crustacean taxonomy and marine bioinvasions. Galil used her extensive training in taxonomy and ecology to study the deep sea biota in the Levant Basin and the Erythraean species introduced into the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal, documenting the resulting changes in the native communities. Following the description of the ‘nomad jellyfish’, Rhopilema nomadica, she initiated ‘citizen science’-powered surveys of its swarms. These annual surveys led to the discovery of new species and new records of both invasive and native gelatinous species in Israeli waters.

Galil served as chairperson of the executive committee of the Zoological Society of Israel 1993-1997; Managing Editor of the Israel Journal of Zoology, 1992-1998; Co-chair of the scientific committee “Living Resources & Marine ecosystems”, CIESM – The Mediterranean Science Commission, 2001-2007 (the first woman to serve in these positions). Founding member of the Israeli Association for Aquatic Sciences (IAAS), and a member of its first executive committee 2003-2005. Co-organizer and co-chair of the interdisciplinary workshop on the continental margins of the Mediterranean coast of Israel, 1989-2003. Member of the Directorate, chairperson of the Scientific Committee of the Nature and Parks Authority, Israel, 2007-2012. Member of the Editorial Board of Biological Invasions, Member of the Advisory Board of Aquatic Invasions. Since 2005 member of the Invasive Species Scientific Committee, IUCN. Currently active in international organizations such as the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).

Authored over 340 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 4 books.