Current instructor

Clay Kelly

/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.45/5 from 44 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

GEO110 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Wonderful professor, class is so interesting and you learn so much. Prof Kelly is very caring, funny, knowledgable and passionate. Weekly discussions w/ interesting readings. Lectures very engaging and clear. Discussion was actually interesting and helpful to understanding of content. HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend this class!!!!
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GEO110 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
Dr. Kelly is a great guy and very approachable if you need help on anything. Tests can be hit or miss but he is funny during lecture and really cares about all his students.
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GEOSCI 551
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Dr. Kelly was a great teacher in this class, his lectures were quite interesting but definitely content heavy. He graded quite fairly and gives good feedback on what was correct and where you go wrong on an assignment. i would highly suggest taking a classes with Dr. Kelly at least once as they lay a good ground work for what a class should be.
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GEOSCI 551
Quality 4/5Difficulty 3/5
He is very knowledgable, and engaging during lectures, and often wants participation. He grades somewhat hard, however he is available and willing to help outside of class, and is very flexible to help with the difficult class material. Very good professor.
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GEOSCI 551
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Dr. Kelly is a great lecturer who is both extremely passionate about paleoceanography and has a good sense of humor. Though the content material is dense and can be difficult, Clay is accessible to students and does his best to explain and provide good feedback on assignments.
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GEO110 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Amazing lecturer-- super caring and explicit about the expectations for the class. Homework usually consisted of one or two readings along with a weekly quiz, which were extremely manageable. The course grade is primarily based on exams, but they are multiple choice and fairly easy if you attend lecture and pay attention.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Clay Kelly

GEOSCI 199 is a directed study course allowing students to conduct independent research or study arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

GEOSCI 691 is a mentored individual research course for students completing a senior thesis.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

GEOSCI 692 is a mentored individual research course for students completing a senior thesis.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

GEOSCI 699 is a directed study course allowing students to conduct independent research or study arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

GEOSCI 875 covers advanced and special topics in geology and geoscience for graduate students.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2016: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=7 letter grades); Fall 2022: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=8 letter grades); Spring 2024: 4.00 GPA, 100.0% A/AB (n=9 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026
GEOSCI 990

Research

1–12 credits

GEOSCI 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised independent study projects.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

Covers the evolutionary history, morphology, and ecology of fossil invertebrates with lab-based fossil identification.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2024: 3.47 GPA, 78.9% A/AB (n=19 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2024–Fall 2024 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026GEOSCI 199Directed Study
Fall 2026GEOSCI 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026GEOSCI 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2026GEOSCI 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2026GEOSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2026GEOSCI 875Advanced Topics in Geology
Fall 2026GEOSCI 990Research
Fall 2026GEOSCI/ZOOLOGY 542Invertebrate Paleontology

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance
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