Lesedi was born and bred in Dobsonville, Soweto. Her passion for the natural environment was sparked during visits to her father’s side of the family, in Limpopo, where she saw beautiful landscapes filled with amazing and scenic woodlands and historically significant mountains.

Lesedi did her Diploma in Nature Conservation through the University of South Africa, where she got her introduction to the conservation world. During her studies, she volunteered at Telperion Nature Reserve for a couple of weeks, then worked at Rondevlei Nature Reserve for a year, under Nature Connect, where she gained experience in urban conservation and came to understand the importance of community engagement in conservation.

Shortly after completing her diploma, she joined the Hot Birds Research Project team as a research assistant on the babbler project in the Kalahari, and this is where her interest in birds started; this was an impactful experience for her career! Lesedi stayed on with the Hot Birds Research Project through her BTech studies in Nature Conservation at Tshwane University of Technology, where she had the amazing opportunity to do her BTech project looking at hormonal responses to heat stress in Southern Pied Babblers. During her time working with the babblers, she came to understand how research contributes to conservation solutions.

Lesedi then joined the Sociable Weaver Project in Kimberley as a field assistant. She later moved on to become the field manager for this project, and in this role she helped to collect cooperative breeding behaviour data on Sociable Weavers and gained experience in long-term data collection and project management. She also had a lot of fun working with the chicks and learning to understand the birds’ behaviour during the breeding season.

Lesedi is excited to be joining the MSc Conservation Biology class and trusts that she will gain much knowledge to help further her career and work with research groups towards solving some of the major conservation issues.

During her spare time she enjoys baking, journaling, hiking, and taking nature walks, and you’ll find her in any spot where there is a good view of the sunset.

Research topic: Weaver nests as a resource in the Kalahari ecosystem