Annette S. Lee | |
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Alma mater | |
Occupation | Astrophysicist, professor, painter |
Awards | AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement (2021) |
Annette S. Lee is an American astrophysicist and professional artist.[1] Lee is the director of Native Skywatchers, a program created to record, map, and share Indigenous star knowledge.[2] She is mixed-race Lakota and works with Ojibwe, Dakota and Lakota communities to preserve those cultures' astronomical and ecological knowledge.[1]
Lee is mixed-race Lakota from the Wanbli Luta (Red Eagle) family and is closely associated with Ojibwe communities in Minnesota.[3] Lee is married to fellow artist and Native Skywatcher member, William Wilson.[4]
Lee has two bachelor's degrees, one from the University of California, Berkeley in Applied Mathematics (1992) and another from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in Art (1998).[5] She went on to earn two master's degrees, a Master of Fine Arts from Yale University in 2000, with a focus on painting, and a Master of Science in Astrophysics from Washington University in 2008.[5] She earned her Ph.D. in physics and astronomy at the University of Western Cape in 2020.[5]
Lee launched the Native Skywatchers initiative in 2007.[6] The project works to revitalize the star lore and astronomical and ecological knowledge of Indigenous cultures, including the sustainable engineering and agriculture practiced by North American native peoples.[7] Lee and her collaborators, including Jim Rock, William Wilson, and Carl Gawboy, consult with Indigenous cultural experts to create star maps, constellation guides, and educational curricula.[8] Native Skywatchers organizes in-person workshops and symposia which bring together scientists, students, community members, and Indigenous knowledge keepers.[6] Lee's paintings are an important part of the Native Skywatchers project, illustrating constellations from Ojibwe and D/Lakota cultures.[3] The Native Skywatchers initiative received a Next Gen STEM grant from NASA's Office of STEM Engagement to fund a series of seasonal virtual sessions for K–12 students from October 2020 to April 2021.[9]
Along with indigenous astronomer Wilfred Buck, Lee curated the "One Sky, Many Astronomies" exhibit at Ottawa's Canada Science and Technology Museum, featuring constellations of Canada's indigenous cultures.[10] A traveling exhibit, "One Sky, Many Worlds: Indigenous Voices in Astronomy," includes Lee as one of the principal curators.[11]
In 2014 Lee was the Olga J. and G. Roland Denison Visiting Professor of Native American Studies at Central Michigan University.[12] Lee was the 2018/2019 AIA Webster Lecturer for the Archaeological Institute of America.[13] She was a Shapley Lecturer at the American Astronomical Society and is currently an Honorary/Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Southern Queensland's Centre for Astrophysics.[7] Lee was a keynote speaker at the International Dark-Sky Association 2020 Global Conference.[14]
Until 2020, Lee was an Associate Professor of Physics and Astronomy at St. Cloud State University where she taught courses including Indigenous Astronomy, Astronomy Education Research (AER), and the History & Philosophy of Science.
In 2021, Lee won the AAAS Early Career Award for Public Engagement in Science for her community education efforts in teaching Indigenous knowledge of the stars.[6]