Danielle N. Lee

Danielle N. Lee is an American assistant professor of biology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville,[1] best known for her science blogging and outreach efforts focused on increasing minority participation in STEM fields. Her research interests focus on the connections between ecology and evolution and its contribution to animal behavior. In 2017, Lee was selected as a National Geographic Emerging Explorer.[2] With this position Lee traveled to Tanzania to research the behavior and biology of landmine-sniffing African giant pouched rats.[3]

Danielle N. Lee
NationalityAmerican
Education
Known forThe Urban Scientist (blog)
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisIndividuals Differences in Exploratory Behavior of Prairie Voles, Microtus ochrogaster (2010)
Doctoral advisorZuleyma Tang-Martínez
Other academic advisorsAlexander G. Ophir
Websiteabout.me/DNLee

Early life and education

Originally from South Memphis, Tennessee and she earned her bachelors from Tennessee Technological University in 1996. While she intended to go into veterinary medicine, after being rejected from veterinary school four times, she began studying olfactory behavior in meadow voles and found her passion to pursue academic research.[4] In 2000, Lee earned her MS from the University of Memphis, and in 2010 Lee graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis with a PhD in Biology.[1] In her thesis, Lee proposed a new system of describing animal personality traits from more subjective, emotional descriptors, to observational adjectives.[5]

Research and career

As of 2017, Lee teaches mammalogy and urban ecology at Southern Illinois University.[1] Her research specializes in rodent behavior in both urban and rural settings. Her current focus of study is the African giant pouched rat, examining the extent to which they exhibit behavioral syndromes and the potential role of genetics in these behavioral differences.[6][7] In 2012, Lee traveled to and lived in Tanzania to collect data about the African giant pouched rat for the "Wild Life of Our Homes" project. Centering on female rat biology, Lee aims to increase research about female biology that has been understudied in the animal kingdom.

Advocacy and public service

From 2006 to 2011, Lee published the blog Urban Science Adventures![8] before joining the Scientific American Blog Network, where she wrote The Urban Scientist blog from 2011 to 2016.[9] Through her posts, Lee covered her experience as a research scientist, issues relating to STEM diversity, and urban ecology (what she calls "science you can see in your backyard").[5] Her blog aimed to connect the scientific community with under-served and underrepresented populations, primarily African-American youth, through scientific explanations that were easily understandable.[10]

Lee's outreach efforts focus on sharing science with the general public[11] and the under-served,[12] particularly through outdoor experiences and social media outlets.[13] Lee founded the National Science and Technology News Service,[14] a now-defunct media advocacy group focused on increasing interest in STEM and science news coverage within the African-American community. She has received many honors for her efforts to increase minority participation in STEM fields, and was named a top TED fellow 2015.[15] Lee also avidly uses Twitter as a platform to share her science and outreach, and has been recognized as a top scientist to follow on Twitter.[16]

Women of color are underrepresented in STEM fields - making up only 10% of the workforce.[17] As a woman of color in science, Lee has continuously experienced challenges regarding her race and gender.[18][19] For the show and podcast the Story Collider she explained how she has had to work 'twice as hard';[20] in 2013, Lee was invited to contribute to the science website Biology Online by a pseudonymous editor named "Ofek". When Lee declined to contribute to the website without compensation, Ofek allegedly responded by asking whether Lee was "an urban scientist or an urban whore".[21] Lee rebuked Ofek on The Urban Scientist; however, the editor-in-chief of Scientific American, Mariette DiChristina, quickly removed Lee's response from the network. Although the removal of the blog post was allegedly due to legal concerns, Scientific American was widely seen as censoring Lee, causing outrage.[22][23][24][25] Ultimately, Ofek was fired by Biology Online because of the incident.[26]

Selected awards and honors

Personal life

Lee is related to the Memphis-based civil rights activists The Lee Sisters.

References
  1. "Dr. Danielle Lee". www.siue.edu.
  2. Society, National Geographic. "Learn more about Danielle N. Lee". www.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  3. "More about Dr. Danielle Lee". You're the Expert. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  4. "National Geographic Emerging Explorer Danielle N. Lee Finding Natural Wonders Hidden in the City – National Geographic Blog". blog.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  5. Pandika, Melissa. "Danielle Lee, Urban Scientist + Hip Hop Maven". OZY. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  6. Heller, Amanda R.; Ledbetter, Eric C.; Singh, Bhupinder; Lee, Danielle N.; Ophir, Alexander G. (2018). "Ophthalmic examination findings and intraocular pressures in wild-caught African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys spp.)". Veterinary Ophthalmology. 21 (5): 471–476. doi:10.1111/vop.12534. ISSN 1463-5224. PMID 29251400. S2CID 7141299.
  7. Cullin, Cassandra O.; Sellers, Matthew S.; Rogers, Erin R.; Scott, Kathleen E.; Lee, Danielle N.; Ophir, Alexander G.; Jackson, Todd A. (October 2017). "Intestinal Parasites and Anthelmintic Treatments in a Laboratory Colony of Wild-caught African Pouched Rats (Cricetomys ansorgei)". Comparative Medicine. 67 (5): 420–429. PMC 5621570. PMID 28935004. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  8. "Urban Science Adventures! ©". urban-science.blogspot.com.
  9. "The Urban Scientist".
  10. DNLee. "Welcome to The Urban Scientist!". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  11. Powell, Susana Martinez-Conde,Stephen L. Macknik,Devin. "How Scientists Can Engage the Public without Risking Their Careers". Scientific American. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  12. "Youth and lawmakers aim for solutions to growing unemployment crisis | THE GATE Newspaper". Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  13. Baker, Monya (2015-02-12). "Social media: A network boost". Nature. 518 (7538): 263–265. doi:10.1038/nj7538-263a. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 25679032.
  14. "National Science & Technology News Service". National Science & Technology News Service.
  15. Rowan, David (2015-05-26). "21 inspiring TED Fellows changing the world in 2015". Wired UK. ISSN 1357-0978. Retrieved 2019-03-01.
  16. "Scientists On Twitter: 30 Biologists And Chemists To Follow".
  17. "nsf.gov - Women, Minorities, and Persons with Disabilities in Science and Engineering - NCSES - US National Science Foundation (NSF)". www.nsf.gov. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  18. https://www.facebook.com/sarah.kaplan.31. "Half of women in science experience harassment, a sweeping new report finds". Washington Post. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  19. "Sexual Harassment in Academia". sites.nationalacademies.org. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  20. "Danielle N. Lee: Working twice as hard". The Story Collider. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  21. "Biology-Online Fires Editor Who Called Scientist 'Urban Whore'". ABC News. 14 October 2013.
  22. Hess, Amanda (October 14, 2013). "Scientific American's Troubling Response to Its Blogger Being Called an "Urban Whore"". Slate.
  23. "'Scientific American' draws heat over 'urban whore' blog post". Fox News. October 14, 2013.
  24. Jaschik, Scott (October 14, 2013). "When Does a Scientist Get Called a Whore?". Inside Higher Ed.
  25. Beusman, Callie (October 13, 2013). "SciAm Apologizes for Deleting Blogger's Post on Being Called a 'Whore'". Jezebel.
  26. Curry, Colleen (October 14, 2013). "Biology-Online Fires Editor Who Called Scientist 'Urban Whore'". ABC News. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  27. "Plenary Lectures". British Ecological Society. Retrieved 2019-02-28.
  28. Shell, Lea (2014-02-26). "Before They Were Scientists: Danielle N. Lee". Your Wild Life. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  29. TED Archive (2016-12-20), Finding landmines using pouched rats | Danielle Lee, retrieved 2019-03-01
  30. "White House Champions of Change – STEM Access & Diversity".
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