Kelly A Zepelin, PhD

Kelly has been a Zen Buddhist for two decades, practicing monastically in Asia and at monasteries in Colorado and Oregon. As a Fulbright scholar and research fellow, she worked as a cognitive scientist in India, Japan, and Sri Lanka, researching the impact of meditation on the brain, cognition, bodily awareness, and interpersonal perception. During this time, her work with monks and nuns—some of whom had been meditating in caves for decades—highlighted the need for a more holistic approach to studying human experience beyond quantitative data. This realization led her to transition into the anthropological study of human experience, utilizing qualitative research methods. She earned an MA in the anthropology of health and wellbeing, focusing on the impact of meditation on views of self and ecology among American Zen monastics.

Following a surprise diagnosis of multiple sclerosis in 2016, Kelly became interested in the role of diet in inflammatory diseases. She pursued a PhD in cultural anthropology, examining contemporary wild food traditions in the United States, their implications for human and ecological health, and the legal challenges of such “alternative” food practices within a colonial context. Kelly currently resides in Durango, Colorado, with her husband, her wolf-dog, and her daughter, Lily.