Physical Oceanographer
Applied Physics Laboratory
Box 355640, University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Tel.: (206) 543-9810
Dr. Kelly is a Principal Oceanographer at the Applied Physics Laboratory of the University of Washington and an Affiliate Professor in the School of Oceanography. She received her PhD in Physical Oceanography from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1983 for research into the causes of SST anomalies in the California Current using satellite infrared data.
Dr. Kelly was a scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution from 1983 until 1996, where she was awarded tenure in 1995. She has been at the Applied Physics Laboratory at the University of Washington since 1996. In 2006 she was elected a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society. She recently served on the Executive Committee of the Decadal Survey for the Earth Sciences, which was sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences to prioritize Earth observations from space across all of Earth Sciences. She is a member of NASA's Ocean Surface Topography and Ocean Vector Winds Science Teams.
Recently Dr. Kelly has been studying atmosphere-ocean coupling in the North Atlantic Ocean to understand how the ocean transports heat poleward and to understand the impact of oceanic heat fluxes to the atmosphere on climate and weather. She served as co-chair for the implementation plan for the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation multi-agency initiative. Her primary scientific interest is the role of the ocean in climate, which she studies using large data sets, particularly from satellite sensors, in collaboration with numerical modelers and scientists who make in situ measurements. She is also the proud mother of two aspiring scientists.
| 1977 | B.S. Engineering Math/Statistics (with highest honors) | Univeristy of California, Berkeley |
| 1983 | Ph.D. Oceanography (Physical) |
Scripps Institution of Oceanography |
Positions Held
| 2001-2003 | Chair, Air-sea Interaction and Remote Sensing Department (APL) |
| 2000-present | Professor (Affilliate), School of Oceanography |
| 2000-present | Principal Oceanographer, Applied Physics Laboratory |
| 1997 | Visiting Professor, School of Oceanography, University of Washington |
| 1998-2000 | Associate Professor (Affiliate), School of Oceanography |
| 1996-2000 | Senior Oceanographer, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Washington |
| 1995-1996 | Associate Scientist with tenure, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| 1991-1994 | Associate Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| 1986-1991 | Assistant Scientist, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| 1984-1986 | Post-doctoral Investigator, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution |
| 1983-1984 | Post-doctoral Scholar, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution; Sponsor: Robert Beardsley |
| 1983 | Green Scholar, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics |
| 1978-1983 | (Graduate) Research Assistant, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Advisor: Myrl Hendershott |
| 1977-1978 | Assistant Engineer, Brown and Caldwell, Consulting Engineers |
Fellowships and Awards:
| 1976-1977 | Engineering Alumni Society Scholarship |
| 1977 | Phi Beta Kappa |
| 1978-1979 | Regents graduate fellowship |
| 1983 | Cecil H. and Ida Green Scholar, University of California, San Diego |
| 1983-1984 | Post-doctoral Scholarship, WHOI |
| 1997 | National Science Foundation Visiting Professorship for Women, School of Oceanography, University of Washington |
| 2006 |
Fellow of the American
Meteorological Society |
Professional Societies and Science Committees: