In 2023, Kelly received her MA in Social-Cultural Anthropology from the University of Calgary with a thesis titled The Shape of Seeing: An Ethnography of Phytolith Analysis. Her master’s project examined how researchers navigate objectivity during phytolith analysis and adapt their conceptions of what is considered relevant data throughout the course of their research.

Her undergraduate honours thesis titled The Ball of Frivolity: Identity Construction at Harry Potter Conventions, examined the ways in which Harry Potter fans use in-person events as opportunities for accelerated fan-identity creation in comparison to online activities.

Kelly began her PhD in medical anthropology at the University of British Columbia in 2023. Her research examines the relationship between psychoactive substances and existential anxiety, with a particular focus on the ways in which people navigate extended difficulties following psychedelic experiences.

Research Key Words: psychedelics, drugs and drug use, science and technology studies, identity construction, consciousness, existential anxiety, medicalization, cultural conceptions of health

Thomas, Kelly (2023) The Shape of Seeing: An Ethnography of Phytolith Analysis.  University of Calgary. Calgary, Canada. https://ucalgary.scholaris.ca/items/1eac5e0b-4a85-4b4e-ae5b-d11d9f6a0147

Schilt, Flora, Christopher E. Miller, David K. Wright, Susan M. Mentzer, Julio Mercader, Patrick Moss, Jeong-Heon Choi, Gunnar Siljedal, Siobhan Clarke, Aloyce Mwambwiga, Kelly Thomas, Alvise Barbieri, Potiphar Kaliba, Elizabeth Gomani-Chindebvu, Jessica C .Thompson (2022). “Hunter-Gatherer Environments at the Late Pleistocene Sites of Mwanganda’s Village and Bruce, Northern Malawi.” Quaternary Science Reviews 292 (September):107638. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107638

PhD Advisor: Hugh Gusterson

Committee Members: Shaylih Muehlmann (Anthropology) and Alison Wylie (Philosophy)