Tricia Fulks Kelley

Scientific Collections International, or SciColl, is a global consortium, based out of the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, devoted to promoting the use and impact of object-based scientific collections across disciplines. Working in outreach, content strategy and storytelling, I strive to spread the message of the resources that are out there in institutions stateside and abroad to further our understanding in the research areas of emerging infectious diseases, environmental change, food security and human migration.

The Barcode of Wildlife Project, funded by the Google Global Impact Awards, has three goals: create a public, free-for-use reference library of  DNA barcodes for 2,000 endangered species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and 8,000 closely related and look-alike species; provide training and technical support to six partner countries to enable them to use DNA barcodes to investigate and prosecute illegal poaching and trafficking in endangered species; and support the efforts of partner countries to adopt DNA barcoding as a standard tool for species protection. I manage foreign journalists for this project and provide outreach and storytelling consultation on the project.
 

Hollow is a Peabody awarding-winning, Emmy-nominated interactive documentary comprised of 30 short portraits about the people and issues in McDowell County, W.Va. Launched in June 2013, the documentary, created by Elaine McMillion Sheldon, has been screened more than 70 times and has been recognized by numerous organizations. My roles with the project ranged from capturing video and writing grants during production to researching and fact checking in post-production.

A collaboration between media students at West Virginia and Morgan State universities, CNN's John Ketchum and I served as Knight Foundation Innovators in Residence to guide in the research, reporting and publication of food justice stories.