Leigh brings a combination of operations, strategy and commercial experience across the global resources sector having worked with Rio Tinto and ExxonMobil in both internal operations and major projects. She is now focused on supporting the commercialisation of breakthrough Australian research, both through her role as Industry Advisor at the University of Queensland, and as Founder and Managing Director of Banksia Minerals Processing.

As a Chemical and Environmental Engineer, she is passionate about step change solutions that provide sustainable processing solutions for heavy industry from a triple bottom line perspective. Banksia is developing an alternative method of refining copper cathode from concentrates, enabling the development of ore bodies not currently viable for production as well as a cleaner, safer and cheap replacement for conventional smelting. In her part-time role with UQ she works on alignment between researchers and industry to progress new resources technology under the Federally sponsored Trailblazer Program.