Her work examines a wide range of animals including zooplankton, fish, squid, and marine mammals, in all cases emphasizing the mechanisms creating spatial and temporal dynamics in pelagic marine ecosystems, the effects these dynamics have on interactions between organisms, and the mechanisms animals use to cope with these patterns. In 2010, Kelly was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly referred as a "genius award" for her "exceptional creativity and promise for important future advances based on a track record of significant accomplishment" and later that year became the proud mom to a rambunctious little boy.