Leslie Sanchez

Leslie is a PhD candidate in the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program at the Friedman School at Tufts University. Her dissertation research focuses on the motivation and processes through which Native American water rights in the western United States are legally defined, and the differing impacts of negotiated water settlements and court adjudicated water rights on food production and streamflow on reservations. Leslie has continued to work with western water research groups and practitioners— for example, with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis’ (NCEAS) Water Sharing Working group and as an independent consultant researching environmental water markets, water rights, and river restoration in the West. Prior to pursing a PhD, Leslie was the Sustainable Water Markets Program Manager at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara. In addition to her work on Western water policy, Leslie has led USAID and other publicly-funded grant field research on irrigation systems, agricultural productivity, food security, and economic development in the Middle East, West Africa, and Central America. She holds a M.A. in Sustainable International Development from the Heller School at Brandeis University, and a B.A. in Political Science from UC Santa Barbara.