About Leslie's Work
Leslie is currently a Masters degree student at UC Davis in applied ecology where she is pursuing her passion for aquatic ecology, and stream restoration and conservation. Her thesis research involves studying the effectiveness of stream restoration methods in improving summer rearing habitat for coho salmon. Leslie was originally trained as a biologist, earning a B.A. from Williams College, Mass. Upon realizing that she was interested in bridging the communication and philosophical gap between engineers and conservation biologists, she attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison civil and environmental engineering program where she received a B.S. She has worked as a licensed civil engineer for State of California San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board for the past 12 years in the areas of watershed management, water pollution control and monitoring, wetland and stream restoration, and flood management. Most recently, her efforts at the Regional Water Board involved co-chairing a broad based citizen, local government and environmental agency workgroup that designed environmental standards for an environmentally sensitive flood management project in the city of Napa. Additionally in Napa County, Leslie worked with the local government, viticulturalists (grape growers), and the environmental community on sustainable viticulture and watershed management.