Her thesis title is Exploring the Origins of Secondary Growth-Two Lower Devonian euphyllophytes from the Battery Point Formation

Nominated by Professor Alexandru M. Tomescu

For the past two semesters, Kelly has been the instructor-of-record for high-enrollment General Botany lecture sections and has coordinated the lab instruction for up to 15 General Botany lab sections. She has already published a paper as first author in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, has a manuscript provisionally accepted in Papers in Palaeontology, and another manuscript ready to go out for peer-review. She will pursue a doctoral degree at the University of Kansas, with funding from a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, further validating why this ambitious student is worthy of this nomination.