Leslie Orzetti

Leslie Orzetti is originally from Lewiston New York, a small suburb north of Niagara Falls. She attended the University of Dayton where she earned both a B.S. and a M.S in Biology in 1994 and 1996, respectively. Her Master’s research was entitled, “Clump orientation and reorganization of Zebra Mussels – Dreissena polymorpha - in response to nozzle head velocities in a laboratory flume”, was earned under the supervision of Albert J. Burky, Ph.D, and funded by the Army Corps of Engineers. Leslie then spent 3 years with the Department of Defense as a contractor for the Legacy Resource Management Program, a natural and cultural resource conservation program for military lands. Following her tenure with the Defense Department, Leslie took a position in Maui, Hawai’i with the Earthwatch project “Hawai’i’s Mountain Streams where she coordinated groups of volunteers and carried out field work for the project. She entered the Ph.D. program at GMU in 2000 and served as a graduate teaching assistant for Introductory Biology and Honors Science Laboratories, and General Biology Lecturer.

She was awarded the Interdisciplinary Graduate Teaching Assistantship for 2001-2003. Leslie was awarded the Graduate Research Fellowship from GMU and a scholarship from the Kellogg Biological Institute. Leslie was also elected Graduate Student Representative Alternate for the Environmental Science and Policy Department for 2004. Her research was supported by a grant funded by the Virginia Department of Forestry. Currently, she is working as the Regional Coordinator for the Washington, DC competition of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl, as a free lance field researcher, and has a post doctoral researcher with George Mason University. She has made numerous presentations at regional and national conferences, and has published several articles.