Danielle Lee is an outreach scientist and science blogger who studies animal behavior and behavioral ecology. She mentored undergraduate and high school students in research and coordinated ecology outreach programs. Currently, she is a post-doctoral research associate at Cornell University studying the behavioral biology of African giant pouched rats. In addition to her research, Lee focuses on science outreach, particularly to underserved groups, through social media, writing, and programming. She received recognition from the White House and several organizations for her outreach work promoting STEM diversity.

1. Danielle N. Lee, Ph.D.
Outreach Scientist and Science Blogger
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Cornell University
Danielle Lee is an Outreach Scientist who studies animal
behavior and behavioral ecology. While completing her
dissertation research on individual differences on exploratory
behavior of field mice, she mentored several undergraduate
and high school students as biology research assistants. She
also coordinated ecology outreach programs with nearby
public high schools for the Department of Biology at her graduate institution. This included co-
coordinating a summer internship research in urban ecology for high school students and an after-school
biology club at a nearby public high school.
She is currently a post-doctoral research associate at Cornell University studying the behavioral biology
and natural history of African giant pouched rats. In addition to her lab and field research in Tanzania,
Africa, Lee is passionate about science outreach and is well known for her science promotion and
outreach in social media.
Lee has a particular focus on science outreach to under-served audiences and is an active member of
Animal Behavior Society including the Education and Diversity Committee. Her social media efforts have
garnered several accolades from the Huffington Post, Under the Microscope, Black Weblog Awards, and
Niche Blogging in Science.
Her outreach efforts emphasize sharing science to general audiences, particularly under-served groups,
via outdoor programming and social media. She writes about science, research news, and diversity
outreach in science, technology, engineering, and math for several online communities and at her blog -
The Urban Scientist on the Scientific American Blog Network. She is an avid user of Twitter.
Recently, Lee was named as one of ten White House Champions of Change in STEM Diversity and
Access. In 2009 Lee was honored as a Diversity Scholar by the American Institute of Biological Sciences
and in 2011 she was named the Young Professional of the Year by the Urban League Young Professionals
of Metropolitan St. Louis; and was given the S.T.E.M. Leader Award by the Kansas City Black Family
Technology Awareness Association in 2013.
Her current science outreach efforts emphasize engagement with broader audiences via science
journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers and the National Black
Journalists Association. In 2013, Lee helped found the National Science &Technology News Service, a
media literacy initiative to bring more science news to African-American audiences and promote science
news sources diversity in mainstream media.
Lee received a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Missouri at St. Louis, Masters in Vertebrate
Zoology from the University of Memphis, and Bachelors in Animal Science from Tennessee Technological
University.
© 2013 Alecia Hoyt Photography