Leo Kaiser-Potter

Undergraduate Summer Intern

Leo Kaiser-Potter was a summer 2025 research intern at the AgroEcoLab through the Coastal Critical Zone Network. He is an undergraduate student at North Carolina State University. While pursuing his B.S. in Fisheries, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology, Leo hopes to minor in wetland ecology/management to help protect important habitats and delicate ecosystems. Leo puts sustainability in the center of progress, working closely with NC State Athletics and Waste Reduction as a Zero-Waste intern, with the goal of changing the future of waste in college athletics. As a CZ intern, Leo assisted PhD students in measuring tidal creek flow, switchgrass biomass sampling, soil fractionation and chemical analysis, as well as harvesting native marsh grasses for use in tidal simulations. A past summer experience on the island of Andros in The Bahamas opened Leo's eyes to the importance of wetlands, how many different ecosystems they support and environmental services they provide, as well as the pressing danger that climate change poses to island nations. Leo's interest in Agroecology was sparked by a class about Environmental Justice, where he learned how the history of farming practices and colonialism were intertwined, and how sea level rise puts the livelihood of countless farmers in danger, as well as the communities that depend on them. Leo hopes that by learning more about the dynamics of tidal hydrology and its effects, he will gain a better understanding of the wetland ecosystems he feels are critical to protect moving forwards.