Patricia Bel acquired her Bachelor’s degree in Textile Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Ph.D in Agriculture Engineering, specializing in Textile Engineering from the University of Southern Queensland in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. Currently, she is a Materials Research Engineer at the Southern Regional Research Center.

Her research areas cover wool, kenaf, cotton processing from fibre to fabric, gin and mill processing. She has 28 years of versatile textile engineering experience, has authored & coauthored many publications, & abstracts, and has given presentations in scientific meetings. She is an internationally recognized expert in neps, and an authority in cotton processing from field to fabric.