Jeff D. Leach

Leach studied archaeology at the University of Texas and New Mexico State University. In the 1990s, Leach was affiliated to the Center for Archaeological Research at the University of Texas at San Antonio,{{cite web|url=https://digital.utsa.edu/digital/collection/p15125coll8/search/searchterm/Leach%2C%20Jeff%20D./field/creato/mode/exact/conn/and|title=Leach, Jeff D.|work=UTSA}} co-founded the Center for Indigenous Research in El Paso, Texas with Ray Maudlin.New Mexico Magazine, Volume 76, Issues 7-12, p.63

He then founded the Paleobiotics lab in New Mexico{{cite web|url=https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Article/2011/05/19/Prebiotic-evolution-From-earth-oven-to-pizza-oven|title=Prebiotic evolution: From earth oven to pizza oven|work=Food Navigator|date=May 19, 2011|last=Daniells|first=Stephen}} and collaborated with Kristin Sobolik of the University of Maine.{{cite news|url=https://www.nutraingredients.com/Article/2010/05/07/Could-archaeological-record-influence-modern-prebiotic-recommendations|title=Could archaeological record influence modern prebiotic recommendations?|work=Nutraingredients|date=May 7, 2010|last=Daniells|first=Stephen}} In 2012 he co-founded the Human Food Project{{cite news|url=http://www.eatingwell.com/article/283417/how-good-gut-bacteria-could-transform-your-health/|title=How Good Gut Bacteria Could Transform Your Health|work=Eating Well|first=Gretel H.|last=Schueller|date=July 2014}} and the American Gut Project with Jack Gilbert and Rob Knight, publishing results in 2018.{{cite news|url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/amp/articles/321821|title='Largest' microbiome study weighs in on our gut health|work=Medical News Today|first=Ana|last=Sandoiu|date=May 15, 2018}} As part of his work on the gut microbiome of the Tanzanian Hadza hunter gatherers he had a fecal transplant from a Hadza man.{{cite news|url=https://www.popsci.com/article/science/scientist-gives-himself-fecal-transplant-try-hunter-gatherers-microbiome/|title=Scientist Gives Himself Fecal Transplant To Try A Hunter-Gatherer's Microbiome|date=October 1, 2014|last=Gertz|first=Emily|work=Popular Science}} This was criticized by anthropologist John Hawks{{cite web|url=http://johnhawks.net/weblog/reviews/microbiome/hadza-microbiome-leach-2014.html|title=An exotic intestinal infusion|date=September 30, 2014|work=John Hawks Weblog}} and science writer Ed Yong, who said of the idea of inducing a healthy microbiome that "This reasoning is faulty".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/there-is-no-healthy-microbiome.html|title=There Is No 'Healthy' Microbiome|last=Yong|first=Ed|date=November 1, 2014|work=New York Times}}

He was a visiting research fellow at King's College London. In 2010 he said he was studying for a Ph.D. at the University of Leicester and in 2019 he said he was pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of York.{{cite news|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/sexual-misconduct-legal-battle-raises-questions-about-microbe-researcher-s-work|title=Sexual misconduct legal battle raises questions about microbe researcher's work|first=Gretchen|last=Vogel|date=February 19, 2020|work=Science}}

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, Leach was the publisher of Discover Archaeology (launched in 1998),{{cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/science.281.5377.639c|title=Digging for Readers|journal=Science|date=July 31, 1998|volume=281|issue=5377|page=639|doi=10.1126/science.281.5377.639c|s2cid=190509968|url-access=subscription}} Dinosaur Magazine, Egypt Revealed, and Archeology Today. He used Beto O'Rourke's web design company Stanton Street Design.{{cite news|url=https://eu.elpasotimes.com/story/archives/2019/03/01/july-2000-profile-beto-orourke-company-stanton-street-design/2994024002/|title=Beto O'Rourke technology firm Stanton Street profiled in El Paso Times in 2000|date=July 6, 2000|first1=Trish|last1=Long|first2=Vic|last2=Kolenc|work=El Paso Times}} In 2003, a court in Texas found he had sold subscriptions for magazines that had closed and had charged for a tour of the Middle East that did not happen. Details of this civil court case were recently published in Science magazine "Leach was found to have violated laws against deceptive trade practices. The Texas attorney general alleged that Leach had sold subscriptions to magazines that had stopped publishing and had accepted more than $100,000 in payments for a tour in Egypt that was to feature the actor Omar Sharif, but was never organized. Leach failed to contest the claims and the court found them admitted and proven."

In 2001, he was involved with Mike Kammerer in plans to find Amelia Earhart's plane.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/2001/11/robot-sub-to-hunt-for-earhart/|title=Robot Sub to Hunt for Earhart|magazine=Wired|first=Andy|last=Patrizio|date=November 29, 2001}}{{cite news|url=https://apnews.com/eb8622071031425bb2ef0add2009e604|title=TV Magnate to Fund Earhart Search|work=Associated Press|date=November 16, 2001|first=Tom|last=Stuckey}}

Leach co-founded Naked Pizza, originally called World's Healthiest Pizza, in New Orleans in 2006 with Randy Crochet, aiming to create a healthy pizza. They used whole grains and inulin from agave. They recovered after Hurricane Katrina destroyed their restaurant and gained investors, notably Mark Cuban in 2009, who encouraged them to use social media to attract further investment including from the Kraft family.{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304066504576349331437407542|title=Finding New Investors, in 140 Characters or Less|work=Wall Street Journal|date=August 22, 2011|first=Emily|last=Glazer}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/magazine/13fob-consumed-t.html|title=Pizza With a Point|last=Walker|first=Rob|date=September 11, 2009|work=New York Times}}{{cite news|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217200|title=The Stripped Down Strategy Behind Naked Pizza|last=Fitter|first=Fawn|date=August 11, 2010|work=Entrepreneur}} Leach sold his share as expansion plans failed and the flagship store closed in 2016.{{cite news|url=https://www.nola.com/news/business/article_63f833e4-8de2-5d2f-9172-8904488390b7.html|title=Naked Pizza closes its flagship New Orleans store|work=nola.com|date=August 5, 2016|last=Larino|first=Jennifer}} While running Naked Pizza, Leach and a man named Jeff Reifman won a competition in 2009 to find Wired journalist Evan Ratliff, who was in hiding for a month.{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120580855&t=1583006077923|title=Tracking A 'Missing' Man By Virtual Bread Crumbs|date=November 21, 2009|work=NPR|last=Cohen|first=Alex}}

Leach moved to ghost town Terlingua from Austin in 2013. In 2017 he founded Basecamp Terlingua, a holiday rentals company.{{cite news|url=https://www.expressnews.com/news/local/amp/Decades-after-the-mines-played-out-old-Terlingua-13213023.php|title=Decades after the mines played out, old Terlingua ghost town is booming again|work=San Antonio Express News|date=September 21, 2018|last=MacCormack|first=John}} In 2019, he founded a company marketing the alcoholic drink sotol and a festival dedicated to the drink with his girlfriend.{{cite news|url=https://www.austinmonthly.com/why-you-need-to-try-sotol-the-spirit-of-texas/|title=Why You Need To Try Sotol, The Spirit of Texas|date=April 2019|work=Austin Monthly}}{{cite news|url=https://texashighways.com/travel-news/terlingua-hosts-the-worlds-first-sotol-festival/|title=Terlingua Hosts the World's First Sotol Festival|first=Laurel|last=Miller|work=Texas Highways|date=May 8, 2019}}

He grew up in Boston, Texas{{cite news|title=Packing in pizzazz with Jeff Leach|work=Gulf News|date=December 10, 2010|last=Navin|first=Hina}} and is from Austin, Texas. With his ex-wife he has a daughter, born around 2000, whose type 1 diabetes diagnosis aged 2 led him into researching healthy food and biology. His children and their mother lived in Canada in 2010.

In late 2019, Leach was accused of multiple counts of assault by four women and a man, including sexual assault.{{cite news|url=https://bigbendsentinel.com/2019/11/13/assault-allegations-emerge-against-prominent-terlingua-man/|title=Assault allegations emerge against prominent Terlingua man|first=Stephen|last=Paulsen|date=November 13, 2019|work=Big Bend Sentinel}}{{cite news|url=https://bigbendsentinel.com/2019/12/18/as-leach-trial-continues-district-attorney-and-airbnb-take-note/|title=As Leach trial continues, district attorney and Airbnb take note|first=Stephen|last=Paulsen|date=December 18, 2019|work=Big Bend Sentinel}} Leach denies the allegations and unsuccessfully sued an accuser for defamation,{{cite news|url=https://marfapublicradio.org/blog/judge-dismisses-terlingua-business-owners-defamation-case-amid-claims-of-sexual-assault/|title=Judge Dismisses Terlingua Business Owner's Defamation Case Amid Claims Of Sexual Assault|work=Marfa Public Radio|date=February 12, 2020}} though his appeal to the Eighth Court of Appeals in El Paso in March 2020 is still pending. Airbnb removed his Basecamp Terlingua from its listings in November 2019, following the allegations. He was indicted by a grand jury in February 2020 for an alleged 2014 assault, with a $20,000 bond from Brewster County sheriff's office.{{cite news|url=http://www.newswest9.com/article/news/investigations/terlingua-businessman-indicted-by-grand-jury-on-sexual-assault-charge/513-dd572462-edff-4f19-af94-06e0b7791229|title=Terlingua businessman indicted by grand jury on sexual assault charge|work=News West 9|date=March 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200306192115/http://www.newswest9.com/article/news/investigations/terlingua-businessman-indicted-by-grand-jury-on-sexual-assault-charge/513-dd572462-edff-4f19-af94-06e0b7791229|archive-date=March 6, 2020|url-status=live}} At a hearing in December 2020, Leach declined a plea deal by DA Sandy Wilson and Judge Roy Ferguson confirmed that the case would go to trial, likely in August 2021.{{cite news|url=https://bigbendsentinel.com/2020/12/16/sexual-assault-case-against-leach-going-to-trial/|title= Sexual assault case against Leach going to trial|first=Stephen|last=Paulsen|work=Big Bend Sentinel|date=December 16, 2020}} The indictment was subsequently dropped, and a prolonged defamation case initiated against the accusers.{{cite news|url=https://bigbendsentinel.com/2024/04/17/as-mediation-stalls-jeff-leach-defamation-case-creeps-forward/ |title=As mediation stalls, Jeff Leach defamation case creeps forward |date=17 April 2024 }}

• {{cite journal|title=Seasonal cycling in the gut microbiome of the Hadza hunter-gatherers of Tanzania|last1=Smits|first1=SA|last2=Leach|first2=J|last3=Sonnenburg|first3=ED| last4=Gonzalez|first4=CG|last5=Lichtman|first5=JS|last6=Reid|first6=G|last7=Knight|first7=R|last8=Manjurano|first8=A| last9=Changalucha|first9=J|last10=Elias|first10=JE|last11=Dominguez-Bello|first11=MG|last12=Sonnenburg|first12=JL|journal=Science|date=August 1, 2017|volume=357|issue=6353|pages=802–806|doi=10.1126/science.aan4834|pmid=28839072|pmc=5891123|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite book|first=Jeff D.|last=Leach|title=Honor Thy Symbionts|isbn=9781481258791|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|date=2012}}
• {{cite book|first=Jeff|last=Leach|title=Bloom: Reconnecting With Your Primal Gut in a Modern World|isbn=9781936608294|publisher=Victory Belt Publishing|date=2013}}
• {{cite book|first=Jeff D.|last=Leach|title=Rewild|isbn=9781515355410|publisher=CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform|date=2015}}

{{reflist|30em}}

• {{cite web|url=http://humanfoodproject.com/about/founder-jeff-leach/|title=Jeff Leach|work=Human Food Project}}
• [https://www.asm.org/Biographies/Jeff-Leach Biography] on American Society for Microbiology
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20000510115736/http://www.egyptrevealed.com/ egyptrevealed.com] on the Wayback Machine, May 2000
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20020118034529/http://www.insearchofamelia.com/ insearchofamelia.com/] on the Wayback Machine, January 2002
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051217090917/http://www.paleobioticslab.com/ www.paleobioticslab.com/] on the Wayback Machine, December 2005
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081004001542/http://www.nakedpizza.biz/ nakedpizza.biz] on the Wayback Machine, October 2008

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Category:People from Austin, Texas

Category:People from Bowie County, Texas

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Category:American microbiologists

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Category:1967 births

Category:21st-century American anthropologists

Category:20th-century American anthropologists

Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni

Category:American food scientists

Category:Living people