Leslie has an interdisciplinary background in biological conservation that started with a B.A. in Environmental Studies at Yale University, during which she was able to work on several projects related to natural resource management and conservation in Latin America and the Caribbean. She then spent a year studying sea turtle by-catch and traditional fisheries in a village in Ghana in West Africa.
In 2013, Leslie moved to South Africa to complete a M.Sc. in Applied Marine Science at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She has since been working as a research assistant at UCT on several projects related to MPA monitoring in South Africa, mostly using underwater video.
The theme of her PhD at CEED is the prioritization of conservation actions for highly migratory marine megavertebrates.
Selected Publications:
Roberson L, Atwood CG, Winker H, Cockroft AC, Van Zyl DL. 2017. “Potential application of baited remote underwater video to survey abundance of west coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii.” Fisheries Management and Ecology 24, 1 (49-61).
Roberson L, Winker H, Attwood CG, De Vos L, Sanguinetti C, Götz A. (2015) “First survey of fishes in the Betty’s Bay Marine Protected Area (MPA) along South Africa’s temperate Southwest coast,” African Journal of Marine Science 37(4), pp543 – 556.