Shelley has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Interior Design from Ryerson University in Toronto, a Bachelor and Masters in Architecture from the Aarhus School of Architecture, Denmark, and a Ph.D. in the ‘beyond big’ large scale spaces of contemporary urbanity. Shelley has made films and been a practicing architect for many years. The course of her education, teaching and practice has lead to a research focus on contemporary urban transformation. More specifically, on the sensorial and conceptual perception of space and time, in an urbanity defined by urban life and urban form in movement and flux. She has a particular interest in what public spaces and domains can be in contemporary societies and how these can be designed and developed.