Warren Bell, Wellsford, ONZM
For services to forensic science. Dr Bell is internationally regarded in the field of forensic odontology, the examination and evaluation of dental evidence. He was appointed Dental Advisor to the Auckland Police in 1991, and was part of a team that established the New Zealand Disaster Victim Identification Unit in 2003, leading and training a group of forensic dentists. He was a member of the Disaster Victim Identification Unit that was part of New Zealand’s Rapid Response Team after the 2004 Asian tsunami. Many of the hours he has dedicated to this work have been voluntary. He lectures internationally and attends conferences, often at his own expense, to be able to distribute the latest information on forensic odontology back to New Zealand practitioners. As a result of his training, a pool of forensic dentists was available to assist with the Melbourne bushfires in 2009.