Kelley is an interdisciplinary conservationist with strengths in the social and scientific components of blue carbon project development. Prior to joining Blue, Kelley served as an Assistant Director of Academics for Verto Education, where she designed and facilitated curriculum on climate change and marine habitats including mangroves. Kelley holds a Master’s of Environmental Policy from Duke University. While at Duke, she spent several semesters in Asia leading a community-based conservation project on the socioeconomic dynamics of protected areas. She has also spent time working with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on the biological monitoring of wetland ecosystems.