[1][2] Her academic writing and public intellectual work has highlighted Black women musicians like Mary Lou Williams, Meshell Ndegeocello, Alice Coltrane, and Melba Liston and has considered African-American women's role in contemporary gospel music and jazz.
[3][4][5][6][7] Kernodle holds a BM in choral music education and piano from Virginia State University, and an MA and PhD in music history from Ohio State University.
[1] In 2021, with Lisa Barg, Dianthe Spencer, and Sherrie Tucker, Kernodle formed the Melba Liston Research Collective whose members work toward "the inclusion of women musicians and analyses of gender in the emerging jazz historiographical directions of 'new' jazz studies".
[12] Kernodle has contributed to NPR's "Turning the Tables" series (2019)[5][13] and to the Walker Art Center's digital exhibit "Creative Black Music".
[17] She has been quoted or interviewed as an expert for The New York Times,[18] NPR's All Things Considered,[19][20] and Marketplace.