Kelly Ayers is a student in the Master of Legal Studies Program, pursuing the Justice Systems Emphasis. She attended Frostburg State University, where she holds degrees in Philosophy and Biology.
Kelly started in the WVU Forensic program in 1999, driving once a week from Romney, W.Va., to Morgantown, and in 2001 she became the program’s first graduate. She then began her 20-year forensic career, taking a position as a forensic services technician with the Asheville North Carolina Police Department. She also pursued the online Master of Science in Forensic Science Administration through Oklahoma State University, beginning that program in 2007.
In 2009, Kelly got the opportunity to come back to West Virginia and in January of the following year, she began her position with the NIJ-funded WVU Forensic Science Initiative, developing continuing and professional education courses that were presented in-person and online. She also began teaching for the program and continued the online master’s program, graduating in 2010. She is currently the only Certified Senior Crime Scene Analyst in the state of West Virginia and also holds a position in a clinical research unit with the WVU Cancer Institute. She lives in Morgantown, as an empty nester with her spouse, and is waiting to find out where her son will be attending medical school. She looks forward to being an encouraging voice for anyone considering the pursuit of a WVU Online degree.