Danielle N. Lee

{{Infobox scientist

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| name = Danielle N. Lee

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| nationality = American

| fields = {{ublist|Behavioral ecology|Urban ecology|Mammalogy}}

| workplaces = {{ublist|Southern Illinois University Edwardsville|Cornell University|Oklahoma State University}}

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| education = {{ublist|Tennessee Tech (BS)
University of Memphis (MS)
University of Missouri–St. Louis (PhD)}}

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| thesis_title = Individuals Differences in Exploratory Behavior of Prairie Voles, Microtus ochrogaster

| thesis_url = https://irl.umsl.edu/dissertation/479/

| thesis_year = 2010

| doctoral_advisor = Zuleyma Tang-Martínez

| academic_advisors = Alexander G. Ophir

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| known_for = The Urban Scientist (blog)

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| website = {{URL|https://about.me/DNLee}}

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Danielle N. Lee is an American assistant professor of biology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville,{{cite web |title=Dr. Danielle Lee - Biological Sciences {{!}} SIUE |url=https://www.siue.edu/arts-and-sciences/biological-sciences/meet-the-team/lee.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=2025-03-13 |website=Southern Illinois University Edwardsville}} 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.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nationalgeographic.org/find-explorers/danielle-n-lee|title=Learn more about Danielle N. Lee|last=Society|first=National Geographic|website=www.nationalgeographic.org|access-date=2019-02-28}} With this position Lee traveled to Tanzania to research the behavior and biology of landmine-sniffing African giant pouched rats.{{Cite web|url=https://theexpertshow.com/blog/2018/4/5/more-about-dr-danielle-lee|title=More about Dr. Danielle Lee|website=You're the Expert|date=5 April 2018 |access-date=2019-03-01}}

Early life and education

Danielle N. Lee was born originally from South Memphis, Tennessee and she earned her bachelor's degree 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.{{Cite web|url=https://blog.nationalgeographic.org/2017/06/01/national-geographic-emerging-explorer-danielle-n-lee-finding-natural-wonders-hidden-in-the-city/|title=National Geographic Emerging Explorer Danielle N. Lee Finding Natural Wonders Hidden in the City – National Geographic Blog|website=blog.nationalgeographic.org|access-date=2018-04-11}} 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 Ph.D. in Biology. In her thesis, Lee proposed a new system of describing animal personality traits from more subjective, emotional descriptors, to observational adjectives.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/danielle-lee-urban-scientist-hip-hop-maven-genius/31077|title=Danielle Lee, Urban Scientist + Hip Hop Maven|last=Pandika|first=Melissa|website=OZY|date=21 April 2014|access-date=2016-04-19|archive-date=2016-04-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427021111/http://www.ozy.com/rising-stars/danielle-lee-urban-scientist-hip-hop-maven-genius/31077|url-status=dead}}

Research and career

As of 2017, Lee teaches mammalogy and urban ecology at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. 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.{{Cite journal|last1=Heller|first1=Amanda R.|last2=Ledbetter|first2=Eric C.|last3=Singh|first3=Bhupinder|last4=Lee|first4=Danielle N.|last5=Ophir|first5=Alexander G.|date=2018|title=Ophthalmic examination findings and intraocular pressures in wild-caught African giant pouched rats (Cricetomys spp.)|journal=Veterinary Ophthalmology|volume=21|issue=5|pages=471–476|doi=10.1111/vop.12534|pmid=29251400|s2cid=7141299|issn=1463-5224}}{{Cite journal|url=https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/aalas/cm/2017/00000067/00000005/art00005|title=Intestinal Parasites and Anthelmintic Treatments in a Laboratory Colony of Wild-caught African Pouched Rats (Cricetomys ansorgei)|last1=Cullin|first1=Cassandra O.|last2=Sellers|first2=Matthew S.|date=October 2017|journal=Comparative Medicine|access-date=2019-03-01|last3=Rogers|first3=Erin R.|last4=Scott|first4=Kathleen E.|last5=Lee|first5=Danielle N.|last6=Ophir|first6=Alexander G.|last7=Jackson|first7=Todd A.|volume=67|issue=5|pages=420–429|pmid=28935004|pmc=5621570}} Lee has expanded her research to examine behavioral differences of small rodents across urban gradients in the St. Louis Metropolitan region. 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!{{cite web|url=http://Urban-science.blogspot.com|title=Urban Science Adventures! ©|website=urban-science.blogspot.com}} before joining the Scientific American Blog Network, where she wrote The Urban Scientist blog from 2011 to 2016.{{cite web|url=http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/|title=The Urban Scientist}} 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"). 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.{{Cite news|url=https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/urban-scientist/httpblogsscientificamericancomurban-scientist20110705intro/|title=Welcome to The Urban Scientist!|last=DNLee|work=Scientific American Blog Network|access-date=2018-04-11}}

Lee's outreach efforts focus on sharing science with the general public{{Cite web|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/survey-how-scientists-can-engage-the-public-without-risking-their-careers/|title=How Scientists Can Engage the Public without Risking Their Careers|last=Powell|first=Susana Martinez-Conde,Stephen L. Macknik,Devin|website=Scientific American|date=October 2016 |access-date=2019-03-01}} and the under-served,{{Cite web|url=http://thegatenewspaper.com/2018/04/youth-and-lawmakers-aim-for-solutions-to-growing-unemployment-crisis/|title=Youth and lawmakers aim for solutions to growing unemployment crisis {{!}} THE GATE Newspaper|access-date=2019-03-01}} particularly through outdoor experiences and social media outlets.{{Cite journal|last=Baker|first=Monya|date=2015-02-12|title=Social media: A network boost|journal=Nature|volume=518|issue=7538|pages=263–265|doi=10.1038/nj7538-263a|pmid=25679032|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}} Lee founded the National Science and Technology News Service,{{cite web|url=https://nstns.org/|title=National Science & Technology News Service|website=National Science & Technology News Service}} 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.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/article/wired-ted-fellows-special|title=21 inspiring TED Fellows changing the world in 2015|last=Rowan|first=David|date=2015-05-26|magazine=Wired UK|access-date=2019-03-01|issn=1357-0978}} 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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/30-biologists-chemists-to-follow-twitter_n_1617379|title=Scientists On Twitter: 30 Biologists And Chemists To Follow|date=26 June 2012 }}

For the show and podcast the Story Collider Lee explained that she has had to work 'twice as hard' as a woman of color in science;{{Cite web|url=https://www.storycollider.org/stories/2016/1/4/danielle-n-lee-working-twice-as-hard|title=Danielle N. Lee: Working twice as hard|website=The Story Collider|date=8 December 2013 |access-date=2019-02-28}} 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".{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/biology-online-fires-editor-called-scientist-urban-whore/story?id=20564772|title=Biology-Online Fires Editor Who Called Scientist 'Urban Whore'|date=14 October 2013|website=ABC News}} 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.{{cite news|last=Hess|first=Amanda|title=Scientific American's Troubling Response to Its Blogger Being Called an "Urban Whore"|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/10/14/danielle_lee_called_an_urban_whore_how_scientific_american_bungled_the_racist.html|newspaper=Slate|date=October 14, 2013}}{{cite news|title='Scientific American' draws heat over 'urban whore' blog post|url=https://www.foxnews.com/science/scientific-american-draws-heat-over-urban-whore-blog-post/|newspaper=Fox News|date=October 14, 2013}}{{cite news|last=Jaschik|first=Scott|title=When Does a Scientist Get Called a Whore?|url=http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2013/10/14/outrage-among-women-science-over-how-colleague-was-treated-and-censored|newspaper=Inside Higher Ed|date=October 14, 2013}}{{cite news|last=Beusman|first=Callie|title=SciAm Apologizes for Deleting Blogger's Post on Being Called a 'Whore'|url=http://jezebel.com/sciam-apologizes-for-deleting-bloggers-post-on-being-c-1444576536|newspaper=Jezebel|date=October 13, 2013}} Ultimately, Ofek was fired by Biology Online because of the incident.{{cite news |last1=Curry |first1=Colleen |title=Biology-Online Fires Editor Who Called Scientist 'Urban Whore' |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/biology-online-fires-editor-called-scientist-urban-whore/story?id=20564772 |access-date=4 December 2020 |work=ABC News |date=October 14, 2013 |language=en}}

In June 2020, Lee was a contributor to the #ShutDownSTEM and #ShutDownAcademia initiative, organized around the Black Lives Matter protests and demonstrations following the murder of George Floyd.{{Cite web|title=#ShutDownSTEM: About|url=https://www.shutdownstem.com/about|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200605180752/https://www.shutdownstem.com/about |archive-date=2020-06-05 }} The group called for STEM and other academic departments across the United States to hold all daily activities, including teaching, research work, and service responsibilities, on June 10, 2020, in order to reflect on how racism and privilege may affect those in their academic spaces; participate in local protests, and; learn about the history of anti-Black violence and racism.{{Cite web|title=Take Action|url=https://www.shutdownstem.com/action|access-date=2021-02-21|website=#ShutDownAcademia #ShutDownSTEM|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201120081359/https://www.shutdownstem.com/action|url-status=dead}}

Selected awards and honors

White House Champions of Change – STEM Access & Diversity{{cite web|title=White House Champions of Change – STEM Access & Diversity|url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/champions/african-american-history-month-stem-access-and-diversity/dr.-danielle-n.-lee}}
2009: Diversity Scholar, American Institute of Biological Sciences
2014: EBONY POWER 100 – Social Media Influencer
2014: The Grio 100's Class of 2014 - Science & Technology Leader
2015: TED Fellow{{Cite web|last=Shell|first=Lea|date=2014-02-26|title=Before They Were Scientists: Danielle N. Lee|url=http://yourwildlife.org/2014/02/before-they-were-scientists-danielle-n-lee/|access-date=2018-04-11|website=Your Wild Life}}{{Citation|last=TED Archive|title=Finding landmines using pouched rats {{!}} Danielle Lee|date=2016-12-20|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcLQQ9_OLfQ|access-date=2019-03-01}}
2017: National Geographic Emerging Explorers
2018: Plenary Speaker at annual British Ecological Society meeting{{Cite web|title=Plenary Lectures|url=https://www.britishecologicalsociety.org/events/bes2018/plenary-lectures/|access-date=2019-02-28|website=British Ecological Society}}

Selected works and publications

Ferkin, M. H., Lee, D. N., Leonard S. T. (2004). "The reproductive state of female voles affects their scent marking behavior and the responses of male conspecifics to such marks". Ethology. 110:257-272. doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2004.00961.x.
{{cite journal |vauthors=((Lee, D. N.)) |date=2020 |title=Diversity and inclusion activisms in animal behaviour and the ABS: a historical view from the U.S.A. |journal=Animal Behaviour |volume=164 |pages=273–280 |doi=10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.03.019}}
{{cite journal |vauthors=((Schell, C. J.)), ((Guy, C.)), ((Shelton, D. S.)), ((Campbell-Staton, S. C.)), ((Sealey, B. A.)), ((Lee, D. N.)), ((Harris, N. C.)) |date=2020 |title=Recreating Wakanda by promoting Black excellence in ecology and evolution |journal=Nature Ecology and Evolution |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages=1285–1287 |doi=10.1038/s41559-020-1266-7|pmc=7861874 }}