Paul W. Leslie
Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Department of Anthropology Curriculum in Ecology Dr. Leslie's Curriculum Vitae Dr. Leslie's Personal Home Page CPC Office: 308-C Univ Sq West CPC Phone Number: (919) 966-6165 Campus Office: 306-B Alumni Campus Phone Number: (919) 962-1564 Email: pwleslie@unc.edu
Paul Leslie pursues research on human ecology, demographic anthropology, and population biology, primarily in East Africa. His work deals with the interface of biology and culture in an ecological context. Leslie has studied the demography and reproductive ecology of the nomadic Turkana in northwest Kenya as part of a long-term multidisciplinary study of the regional ecosystem. A principal focus of this project has been the biological and behavioral consequences of seasonal and longer term environmental fluctuations. His current work entails initiated another collaborative project to study the demographic, social, health, and environmental changes associated with changing land use patterns among the Maasai of northern Tanzania. Components of this project include: relationships between family demography and livelihood diversification (adoption of agriculture and labor migration); changing patterns of reproductive health; and the mutual influences among population, environment, and biodiversity in the vicinity of parks and other protected areas. Comparative work in Uganda, Namibia, and Botswana is now under way as well. A central concern of this project is how changes associated with parks and conservation policy affect resilience of local and regional social-ecological systems.
Current CPC Grants and Contracts: • HSD: Collaborative Research: Dynamics of Parks as Agents of Change in Eastern & Southern Africa • Integrative Graduate Education, Research, and Training in Population and Environment
Information updated on 03/25/2009