Leslie Dodson leslie.dodson@colorado.edu Notes from the Field Blog Post 1 Blog Post 2 Blog Post 3

Leslie Dodson is a PhD candidate in the ATLAS Institute at CU-Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, where she is pursuing a doctorate in Technology, Media & Society. Her Information and Communication Technology for Development (ICTD) research involves the design of a communications system for the largest fog water harvesting project in North Africa which will serve hundreds of rural Berber residents in southwest Morocco. She incorporates the ICTs, Climate Change and Development model in her research, using it as a conceptual framework to link climate change, livelihoods vulnerability, and the potential for communication technologies to support resilience in the face of environmental distress such as water shortages in southwest Morocco. She specifically focuses on the adaptation tier of the ICCD model to help community members measure, inform, network, decide and plan their water use.

Prior to pursuing a PhD, Leslie was a senior foreign correspondent for CNBC, MSNBC, NHK-Tokyo and Reuters.  Over the course of her 25-year journalism career, she specialized in reporting on climate change, global environmental issues, international development and emerging market economics.

In addition to pursuing a PhD, Leslie has a Masters Degree in Journalism from Northwestern University; a Certificate in Conservation Biology from the Center For Environmental Research and Conservation at the Earth Institute, Columbia University; and a Certificate in Permaculture Design.

Leslie presented a Ted Talk, which is titled “Don’t Misrepresent Africa.” That presentation focuses on negative stereotypes and media coverage of the Continent.