“The credit needs to go to my mother, who taught me a wealth of information about wildlife and conservation,” Leaf begins. “We would go for long walks and she would teach me the names of all the trees, the birds, and the animals we saw. She was such a huge influence on my conservation path.”

It wasn’t until decades later, during the quiet of the pandemic, that Leaf decided to follow that childhood passion wherever it led.

“The pandemic was the moment I realised I needed to head down a path for myself,” Leaf says. “I’d put my life on hold as a mother, just working jobs to pay the bills and make life a bit easier. I’d even started a small business with the inheritance from my mum’s passing, but when the world stopped, it gave me space to think, really think, about what I wanted.

“I realised life was marching on and I was just surviving, helping everyone else to grow. As a mother, I’d put myself last for decades, and the path I was on wasn’t making me happy. I needed to do something I was passionate about, not just something that paid the bills.

“My passion had always been conservation. I grew up in the countryside hearing birds and animals that can no longer be heard. My heart was in working to protect what little nature we have left – so that children can once again hear corncrakes, kingfishers, newts, and toads.”

Leaf’s path back into education wasn’t straightforward. She had started university twice before, but found the experience wasn’t the right fit for her as a neurodivergent learner. Returning to study at Reaseheath College was, as she puts it, “a leap of faith”, one that paid off thanks to genuine encouragement and inclusion.

She began with a Level 3 Diploma in Land and Wildlife Management, which rebuilt her confidence. “That course was amazing,” she says. “It gave me confidence in my writing and ideas. The support was incredible, and when my synoptics was used nationally as an example of good work, I started to believe in myself again.”

Encouraged by her tutors, Leaf continued to University Centre Reaseheath, joining the BSc Wildlife Conservation and Ecology degree where she explored the relationship between humans and wildlife in her dissertation, Exploring Wildlife Value Orientations Among Whale Watchers: Implications for Conservation and Sustainable Tourism.

“Jacques-Yves Cousteau and his TV programmes first sparked the love of whales in me,” she says. “I have, sadly, never been able to afford to go whale watching, but I’ve always been fascinated by how our species views conservation. When I met my tutor, Becx Whitefield, and we talked about the human side of conservation, it made total sense.

“The real issues come from how people think and act. If we can tailor conservation efforts to those human attitudes, we can make it work more effectively.”

Leaf’s dissertation project opened her eyes. “To be brutally honest, a surprising finding was how harmful whale watching actually is to the whales themselves,” Leaf admits. “Whilst I understand that people want to be close to them – me included – I learned how damaging it can be and how much we need a better framework so the benefits to people don’t override the whales’ welfare.”

Her reflections revealed how much empathy and balance are needed in conservation. “Some people value wildlife mainly for its usefulness to humans,” she says. “At first, I found that difficult to hear, but it made me think more deeply about how to include all perspectives. We can’t ignore other value systems – we have to understand them.”