Kelton received his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Joint Program in Biological Oceanography. Working with Dr. Simon Thorrold, Kelton developed a new compound-specific stable isotope technique to track fish migration in the marine environment. Kelton received his Bachelors of Science from Bates College in 2005, where he used stable isotope analysis to study the impact of climate-change driven shifts in Arctic primary production on the structure and function of the Arctic benthos. Kelton's research interests revolve around using compound-specific stable isotope geochemistry to address fundamental and applied questions about population connectivity,  migration, and trophic dynamics of marine megafauna. Kelton is now a joint WHOI-KAUST postdoc examining carbon flow pathways on coral reefs to understand how coral reefs can be so productive and biologically diverse in oligotrophic tropical waters.