He holds a BArch from the University of Tennessee, a MArch in Urban Design from the University of Oklahoma, and a MPhil in Environmental Design in Architecture from Cambridge University. He was a Fulbright Fellow in Estonia where he investigated how architecture has been renovated, adapted, and reused over the last century in repeated efforts to exert political and cultural influence. Prof. Shelton is the recipient of a research grant from the AIA National Board Knowledge Committee for his project Greening North Knoxville: Visualizing Sustainability in Urban Conditions. Working with colleague, Prof. Mark DeKay, he received an Ecological Literacy in Architectural Education Award from the AIA National Committee on the Environment and the TIDES foundation.