Biography

Kelly received her B.S. in Biology in 2013 from the University of North Carolina with minors in Marine Science and Chemistry.  As an undergraduate she undertook a variety of research endeavors from studying the microbial response to the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, to understanding annual coral bleaching in American Samoa. Kelly focused her interests at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences where she studied the combined effects of stressors on juvenile coral growth. In 2015, Kelly joined the Burkepile Lab at UCSB as a National Science Foundation, Graduate Research Fellow.

Research Area

For my dissertation research Kelly is examining the effects of anthropogenic stressors on coral recruitment and juvenile coral survival. She is studying how processes such as herbivory, predation, nutrient pollution, and sedimentation affect the success of coral settlement and the dynamics of coral recruitment.