Dr Lesley Dickie

Chief Executive Officer

Lesley has been the Chief Executive Officer of Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust since 2016. She brings with her a wealth of experience in zoo-based organisations including the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland and the Zoological Society of London. Prior to joining Durrell, Lesley was the Executive Director of the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria (EAZA), where she was responsible for bringing in the EAZA zoo accreditation screening programme and continues to act as a zoo inspector today.

Lesley was educated at the universities of Glasgow (BSc Zoology), Cambridge (MPhil Biological Anthropology in the welfare of zoo housed primates) and Queen Mary (PhD in the behaviour and reproductive physiology of a captive carnivore species).   In addition, she has a Foundation in Fine Art from the Art Academy in London, completed in 2016, and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Behaviour Change for Conservation from the University of Derby in 2019. In 2018, Lesley won the Institute of Directors Chairman’s Award for Excellence in Leadership.