The Center for Conservation Genetics

Matt Leslie is the Program Manager for the Center of Conservation Genetics. Mr. Leslie studied zoology with a minor in wildlife ecology while specializing in molecular systematics (phylogenetics of Vespertilionid bats) and conservation genetics at Oklahoma State University (OSU). While attending OSU, he participated in various field and laboratory-based wildlife research projects (e.g., population studies of black bears, small mammals, humpback whales, and bottlenose dolphins). Mr. Leslie came to the AMNH in 2002 as a NSF-REU intern researching population genetics of southern hemisphere humpback whales. Mr. Leslie currently specializes in the use of high-throughput, PCR-based, molecular techniques to determine population structure, diversity and life history characteristics for an array of wildlife populations of conservation concern. In addition, he continues examining questions in evolutionary biology such as speciation by continual or sporadic hybridization within a recently divergent dolphin complex. On occasion, he uses these molecular techniques to perform basic forensic analysis to identify confiscated or unidentified biomaterials. Mr. Leslie is responsible for maintenance and daily operation of the state-of-the-art laboratory of the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics. Mr. Leslie is also keenly interested in the intersection of fisheries and natural resources policy with conservation biology as it relates to international management of large whale species and the International Whaling Commission.