Leslie Bayanza

Leslie grew up in Goma, an Eastern city in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her passion for nature and environmental protection started as a teenage Girl Guide in her hometown. She participated in beach clean-ups, tree plantings, and environmental education campaigns. The Girl Guide's sixth law, which focuses on protecting nature, animals, and plants, became Leslie's daily motto and inspired her to pursue a career in conservation. She is particularly interested in climate change, conservation, and environmental education. She pursued her undergraduate studies in Global Challenges at the African Leadership University in Kigali, Rwanda, majoring in wildlife conservation.

Leslie's undergraduate journey was transformative, involving learning and practical conservation work. She became more passionate about conservation through volunteerism and internships in the conservation field throughout her academic journey. During her 2022 internship with the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund at the Ellen DeGeneres Campus in Rwanda, she gained hands-on experience in tourism and hospitality, community-based conservation, and botany, participating in research projects such as plant measurements and pollination. This experience motivated her to start a conservation education project called CHIYONA (Children and Youth for Nature) in her hometown. Leslie's project outcomes and academic background led her to conduct her final year undergraduate research on urbanization and environmental protection, focusing on plastic pollution and the environment. Now, as a master's student, Leslie is exploring the interactions of climate change and urbanization on Red-winged Starlings.

Thesis: Interactions between climate change and urbanization on Red-winged Starlings (Supervisors: A/Prof Susie Cunningham, Dr Celiwe Ngcamphalala).