Dr. Kelly Elkins is a Professor of Chemistry and Forensic Science at Towson University and a founding tri-editor-in-chief of the COFSE Journal of Forensic Science Education. She earned her Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Chemistry from Keene State College in 1997 and Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from Clark University in 2001 and 2003, respectively. She conducted research in Heidelberg, Germany, as a Fulbright Scholar from 2001-2002 at the European Media Lab (now HITS) and at MIT as a Cancer Research Institute Postdoctoral Fellow from 2003-2004.
She has mentored 45 undergraduate, 5 pre-college, and 75 Masters students in research.
She is the author and editor of 8 books and more than 70 invited book chapters and journal articles in publications such as Journal of Forensic Sciences, Analytical Biochemistry, Microorganisms, Applied Microbiology, Drug Testing and Analysis, Medicine, Science and the Law, Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, Protein Engineering, Journal of Forensic Science Education, Journal of Chemical Education, The Chemical Educator, and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education.
She has presented her work in over 200 conference and workshop presentations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Germany, Russia, and Korea. She has taught courses in forensic biology and forensic chemistry under various course numbers at four colleges and universities since 2006.
She is an active member and Fellow of the American Chemical Society and a Fellow of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences. She is a member of the Council of Forensic Science Educators and served as its President in 2012. She is a Member of the ACS Ethics Committee and co-wrote the 2018 ACS Exams Institute Diagnostic of Undergraduate Chemical Knowledge (DUCK) exam and is currently serving on the 2027 DUCK Exam Committee. She is the past-Chair of the ACS Division of Professional Relations Ethics Subdivision and currently an elected Member-At-Large. She served as a Councilor for the Maryland Section of the ACS.
Her research has been funded by the Forensic Sciences Foundation, NSF, NIH, Maryland TEDCO, and the ACS PRF.
She conducts ethics trainings, seminars, webinars, and workshops through the AAFS, IAI, MAAFS, CSFRE, and ACS.
She enjoys communicating science in the classroom, through professional presentations, via outreach activities, in interviews, and on television. She has been interviewed by NBC 9News Denver, FOX 31 News Denver, ABC 7 News Denver, The Denver Post, Chemistry World, Forensic Magazine, Scripps News, and the ISHI Report as a forensic expert. Her contact info is here.