Dr Leslie Roberson

Research Fellow

School of the Environment
Faculty of Science

Overview

I grew up in Seattle in the Pacific Northwest of the US, and spent my childhood in on and around the water. I have a Bachelors in Environmental Studies from Yale University (on the Long Island Sound, not the most beautiful body of water) and a Masters in Applied Marine Science from the University of Cape Town (surrounded by stunning vibrant incredible ocean!). I’ve been lucky to work on a wide variety of conservation and management projects around the world, including Latin America, Africa, and more recently Oceania and Southeast Asia. As a marine scientist, I'm passionate about all things fisheries, except actually doing the fishing (which I am very bad at). I’m also one of the few surfers who wants to see more sharks in the water. My research straddles the marine conservation and fisheries management fields, including work with fisher behaviour and bycatch reduction (see here for some featured projects), fishing impacts on threatened marine species, and seafood trade dynamics. Ultimately, my interest is improving the environmental and socioeconomic sustainability of fishing and seafood in Australia and globally.

Here at UQ I am a member of the UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science and the Ocean Conservation Team led by A/Prof Carissa Klein.

Research Interests

  • Fisheries management
    I work on many issues related to fisheries, including monitoring, control, and surveillance and bycatch mitigation. I work closely with a variety of government and industry partners.
  • Sustainable seafood
    I am interested in global protein provision and how seafood can contribute to food security, and what seafood "sustainability" means in terms of livelihoods and the ecosystems impacted by fishing
  • Marine conservation
    Although I have experience with evaluation and planning of marine protected areas, my current interests focus on other conservation measures - mostly effective fisheries management
  • Biodiversity protection
    I was always interested in protection of the natural environment, but a trip to the Galapagos Islands during a study abroad in Ecuador in 2008 sealed the deal for me. After that summer, I changed my Major to Environmental Science and have since specialized in marine conservation

Qualifications

  • Associate Fellow, CSIRO, CSIRO
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Publications

View all Publications

Publications

Journal Article

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)