Danielle Lee

Danielle N. Lee is a research biologist, blogger, and outreach scientist focused on increasing minority participation in STEM fields.

Lee is the author of the popular blog, The Urban Scientist, hosted by Scientific American: Scientific American Blog Network. Through her posts, Lee covers her experience as a research scientist, issues relating to STEM diversity, and urban ecology (what she calls "science you can see in your backyard" Dr. Lee also published the blog Urban Science Adventures! until 2011.

Her outreach efforts focus on sharing science with the general public, particularly through outdoor experiences and social media outlets. Lee founded the National Science and Technology News Service, a media advocacy group focused on increasing interest in STEM and science news coverage within the African-American community. She has garnered many awards for her efforts to increase minority participation in STEM fields.

Lee is a post-doctoral research associate at Cornell University, studying behavioral ecology in the lab of Dr. Alexander Ophir which focuses on Neuroethology. Her current focus of study is the African giant pouched rat, as well as the connections between ecology and evolution and its contribution to animal behavior. Her previous work included studies of prairie vole behaviors and personalities. In her 2011 thesis, Lee proposed a new system of describing animal personality traits from more subjective, emotional descriptors, to observational adjectives.

Lee also serves as a visiting professor at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, and was named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic.