Kelly was born and raised in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles to attend UCLA. At UCLA, she studied physiological science and conservation biology. After graduating university, she worked in Cameroon managing conservation research projects. This led her to pursue a MSc In One Health (Infectious Diseases) at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Royal Veterinary College. After completing her MSc, she worked as the Lead COVID-19 Epidemiologist for a regional health department and a Staff Associate Researcher at UCLA for a project investigating Eocene fossils in the Uinta Basin. She is currently living in London and working at University of Leeds for their Antimicrobial Resistance Network.

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Kelly credits her passion for learning to the enthusiastic and supportive mentors she has had throughout her career and aspires to be the same type of mentor to her students. She has worked with a wide range of individuals and subjects, ranging from tutoring university peers in life sciences or statistics, to teaching scuba diving courses, to advising on graduate school applications or research projects. Her goal is to make education, especially science and math, fun and accessible to everyone by emphasizing students’ talents, passions, and individual learning styles. She provides them life-long tools to grow and succeed both within and outside their academic journeys.

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In her free time, Kelly is most likely found rock climbing, scuba diving, or walking her rescue dog, Blue Moon.