Meet The Speaker: Deborah Leslie

We are excited to introduce Deborah Leslie as one of our speakers for the 2026 Arkansas Soil and Water Education Conference and Irrigation EXPO.

Deborah Leslie is an Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis in the Department of Earth Sciences.

She grew up in the Arkansas Delta and graduated with her PhD in Earth Sciences from the Ohio State University. She completed a postdoctoral research position with the USDA-ARS Delta Water Management Research before becoming an assistant professor.

Her research background is in environmental geochemistry. Her research program focuses using managed aquifer recharge strategies to replenish stressed groundwater resources while emphasizing the protection and improvement of groundwater quantity and quality.

Come see her presentation, Managed Aquifer Recharge potential in the Mid-South, at the Arkansas Soil and Water Education Conference and Irrigation EXPO at the Arkansas State University Student Union on January 14.