Danielle N. Lee

Danielle N. Lee
Nationality American
Education
Known for The Urban Scientist (blog)
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
Thesis Individuals Differences in Exploratory Behavior of Prairie Voles, Microtus ochrogaster (2010)
Doctoral advisor Zuleyma Tang-Martínez
Other academic advisors Alexander G. Ophir
Website about.me/DNLee

Danielle N. Lee is an American visiting 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.

Academic work

Originally from South Memphis, Tennessee, she intended to go into veterinary medicine. While she was rejected from veterinary school four times, she began studying olfactory behavior in meadow voles and found her passion to pursue academic research.[2] In her 2011 thesis, Lee proposed a new system of describing animal personality traits from more subjective, emotional descriptors, to observational adjectives.[3]

As of 2017, Lee teaches mammalogy and urban ecology at Southern Illinois University. She 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. 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.

Blogging

From 2006 to 2011, Lee published the blog Urban Science Adventures![4] before joining the Scientific American Blog Network, where she wrote The Urban Scientist blog from 2011 to 2016.[5] 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").[3] 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.[6]

Controversy

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 responding by asking whether Lee was "an urban scientist or an urban whore".[7] 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.[8][9][10][11] Ultimately, Ofek was fired by Biology Online because of the incident.[12] Fallout related to the incident also led to the resignation of the Scientific American's blog editor, Bora Zivkovic.[13]

Outreach efforts

Lee's outreach efforts focus on sharing science with the general public and the under-served, particularly through outdoor experiences and social media outlets. 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.

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[15]

Selected awards and honors

References

  1. ↑ "Dr. Danielle Lee". www.siue.edu.
  2. ↑ "National Geographic Emerging Explorer Danielle N. Lee Finding Natural Wonders Hidden in the City – National Geographic Blog". blog.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  3. 1 2 Pandika, Melissa. "Danielle Lee, Urban Scientist + Hip Hop Maven". OZY. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
  4. ↑ "Urban Science Adventures! ©". urban-science.blogspot.com.
  5. ↑ "The Urban Scientist".
  6. ↑ DNLee. "Welcome to The Urban Scientist!". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  7. ↑ News, A. B. C. (14 October 2013). "Biology-Online Fires Editor Who Called Scientist 'Urban Whore'". ABC News.
  8. ↑ Hess, Amanda (October 14, 2013). "Scientific American's Troubling Response to Its Blogger Being Called an "Urban Whore"". Slate.
  9. ↑ "'Scientific American' draws heat over 'urban whore' blog post". Fox News. October 14, 2013.
  10. ↑ Jaschik, Scott (October 14, 2013). "When Does a Scientist Get Called a Whore?". Inside Higher Ed.
  11. ↑ Beusman, Callie (October 13, 2013). "SciAm Apologizes for Deleting Blogger's Post on Being Called a 'Whore'". Jezebel.
  12. ↑ Gardner, Joshua (October 15, 2013). "Editor at biology blog fired for calling black female scientist who wouldn't work for free an 'urban whore'". Mail Online.
  13. ↑ Helmuth, Laura (17 October 2013). "Don't Be a Creep" – via Slate.
  14. ↑ "National Science & Technology News Service". National Science & Technology News Service.
  15. ↑ "Scientists On Twitter: 30 Biologists And Chemists To Follow".
  16. ↑ Shell, Lea (2014-02-26). "Before They Were Scientists: Danielle N. Lee". Your Wild Life. Retrieved 2018-04-11.
  17. ↑ "White House Champions of Change – STEM Access & Diversity".
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