Zakiya Leggett, an associate professor of forestry and environmental resources at the NC State College of Natural Resources, has been named to the governing board of the Ecological Society of America.
The Ecological Society of America, or ESA, is a nonpartisan organization of professional ecologists that aims to improve communication between ecologists, increase public awareness of ecological science, and promote the responsible use of ecological science.
Leggett will serve on the ESA governing board from 2025-2028. She will work alongside other board members to determine the strategic direction of the organization and to provide oversight on key decisions and operations.
Before her election to the governing board, Leggett served on a number of ESA committees, boards and task forces over the course of nearly three decades. That includes a lengthy history of service on the SEEDS Advisory Board and as a SEEDS mentor.
SEEDS (Strategies for Ecology Education, Development and Sustainability) aims to “stimulate and nurture the interest of underrepresented students” through activities such as mentoring, field trips, leadership development, annual meeting travel awards, and research fellowships.
“Some of my greatest memories stem from my experience with the SEEDS program … I was in the first cohort of SEEDS students while I was a student at Tuskegee University, and it was one of the first times I was surrounded by students that looked like me that were also passionate about ecology,” Leggett said in a previous interview.
Outside of her work with the ESA, Leggett co-directs NC State’s Citizen Science Campus program and leads multiple career development programs, including the Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program and the Scholars for Conservation Leadership Program, aimed at increasing diversity in conservation and natural resource fields.
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