Andrew Leslie - Forest Research

Andrew provides management and leadership to the Silviculture and Wood Properties Science Group. There are three broad purposes of the role; leadership and management of the research team, maintaining and improving external relations and conducting research on silvicultural themes.

Andrew has a wide range of interests, but his main focus in the UK has been investigation of novel species and provenances. However, he has also conducted research on short rotation forestry and pine weevil. His twenty four years of degree course management and teaching have given him a strong interest in forestry education and knowledge transfer. Andrew graduated in 1985 with a BSc Ecological Sciences with Honours in Forestry from Edinburgh University, which soon after was followed with an MSc in Forestry and its Relation to Land Use at Oxford University in 1987, funded by the UK Overseas Development Administration. This lead to supervisory and management roles on forest inventory and research projects in Somalia, Lesotho, Vanuatu and Guyana. On his return to the UK in 1995 he studied an MBA at Herriot Watt University to provide a foundation for developing his management skills. For twenty four years he then designed, launched and managed degree programmes and taught a wide range of forestry subjects at the National School of Forestry (University of Central Lancashire and then later the University of Cumbria). Andrew completed a part-time PhD at Edinburgh University on Eucalyptus in the UK in 2016. He joined Forest Research in September 2023. Previously, Andrew has worked collaboratively on research projects with Forest Research, Maelor Forest Nurseries Ltd, Conifer Breeding Coop and the Future Trees Trust.

Affiliations

Professional Member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters.
Committee Member of the Royal Forestry Society, North Western Division 2015 to present.
External Examiner for degree programmes at Bangor University between 2013-2017 and 2021-2023.
Institute of Chartered Foresters Regional Secretary for North England Group between 2014 and 2015.
Member of the Institute of Chartered Foresters Professional and Educational Standards Committee between 2014 and 2018.

Dr Andrew Leslie

BSc, MSc, MBA, PhD

0782 688 3133

andrew.leslie@forestresearch.gov.uk

Head of Silviculture and Wood Properties

Silviculture and wood properties

Northern Research Station

Roslin EH25 9SY

Other Research

Quantifying yields and determining site tolerances for Eucalyptus, particularly Eucalyptus glaucescens.

Peer reviewed journal articles

Hardy, C., Sayyed, I., Leslie, A.D. and Dittrich, A.D., (2020). Effectiveness of insecticides, physical barriers and size of planting stock against damage by the pine weevil (Hylobius abietis). Crop Protection, 137: 1-23.

Leslie, A.D., Mencuccini, M., Perks, M.P. and Wilson, E.R., (2019). A review of the suitability of eucalypts for short rotation forestry for energy in the UK. New Forests: 1-19.

Leslie, A.D., Mencuccini, M. and Perks, M.P., (2018). Preliminary growth functions for Eucalyptus gunnii in the UK. Biomass and Bioenergy, 108: 464-469.

Leslie, A.D., Mencuccini, M., Purse, J., and Perks, M.P. (2017) A resource capture efficiency index to compare differences in early growth of four tree species in northern England. iForest – Biogeosciences and Forestry 10(2): 397-405.

Leslie, A.D., Mencuccini, M., Purse, J., and Perks, M.P. (2014) Frost damage to eucalypts in a short-rotation forestry trial in Cumbria (England) iForest, Volume 7.

Leslie, A.D., Mencuccini, M., Purse, J., and Perks, M.P. (2014) Results of a species trial of cold tolerant eucalypts in south west England. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 108 (1): 18-27.

Leslie, A.D., Mencuccini, M., and Perks, M.P. (2013) Growth and survival of provenances of snow gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) and other hardy eucalypts at three trials in England. Scottish Forestry 67 (2): 30-39.

Bogdanou, T.; Starr, C.B.; Weatherall, A. and Leslie, A.D. (2013) Use of the internet and social media in the forestry profession in the United Kingdom. International Forestry Review 15 (2): 147-159

Leslie, A.D.; Mencuccini, M. and Perks, M. (2012) The potential for Eucalyptus as a wood fuel in the UK. Applied Energy 89 (1): 176-182.

Leslie, A.D.; Mencuccini, M. and Perks, M. (2011) Eucalyptus in the British Isles. Quarterly Journal of Forestry 105 (1): 43-53.