Leslie invited to deliver Kolshorn Lecture at University of Minnesota

Heather Leslie has been invited to deliver the Kolshorn Lecture at 5 p.m. Sept. 12 at the University of Minnesota. The director of the Darling Marine Center will discuss “Creating resilient coastal communities and ecosystems: Connecting marine conservation science and practice.” Each year, a distinguished scientist or conservationist is invited to give the lecture. The lecture series that began in 1982 honors Otto W. Kolshorn, a farmer, teacher, school board member, justice of the peace and legislator from Goodhue County, Minnesota. Leslie, an international leader in marine conservation science, researches the ecology, policy and management of coastal marine ecosystems. She studies human and environmental dimensions of small-scale fisheries and other aspects of human-nature interactions in coastal communities. And she works with students and colleagues to connect this science to policy and management from the local to the national level. Leslie also will deliver a research lecture titled “The emerging science of coupled social-ecological systems.” In this talk, she’ll expand on the scientific findings and approaches that she introduces in the Kolshorn Lecture. She’ll explain how she’s adapted the social-ecological systems framework developed by Nobel Laureate Elinor Ostrom, and applied it to varied social and ecological contexts in coastal communities in the United States and Mexico. This has led to expanded understanding of coupled systems dynamics and contributed knowledge to inform marine management and policy.