Growing up on the coast of Prince Edward Island Shelby was fascinated by marine life from an early age influencing her decision complete a Biology degree and continue on to pursue a Masters degree in Marine Management in the Marine Affairs program at Dalhousie University. During her undergraduate she volunteered in a lab that specialized in coastal food web ecology. Working with a multitude of different coastal ecosystems ignited her passion for coastal ecology, ultimately leading to her honours research, which focused on the temperature tolerance of different Nova Scotian salt marsh meiofauna (in particular three different species of temperate foraminifera).  

Throughout her Masters Shelby was interested in researching climate change, in particular coastal hazards, such as sea-level rise and erosion. Through working as a Graduate Research Assistant with the Environmental Information: Use and Influence (EIUI) research initiative she gained insight on how information, in particular information displayed on coastal atlases, can play a role in policy and decision-making.