California Athletics Hall of Fame
Kelly played for the Cal women’s water polo team at the club level from 1983-87 before it was elevated to varsity status. A member of the U.S. National team for 10 years (1987-94, 1997-98), she competed in four World Championships and was named the USA Water Polo Female Athlete of the Year in 1992. Kelly was also the top U.S. goal-scorer at the World Championships in Rome in 1994. Inducted into the U.S. Water Polo Hall of Fame in 2006, she was a part of three national club championships while playing for the Bears. After receiving her bachelor’s degree in geography, Kelly earned a master’s degree from North Carolina in 1991 and a Ph.D. from Colorado in 1996. Currently, she is an associate specialist in cooperative extension and adjunct associate professor in the Ecosystem Sciences Division of the Department of Environmental Sciences, Policy and Management at Cal. Kelly is also the faculty director for the Geospatial Imaging & Informatics Facility (GIIF) in the College of Natural Resources.
