Daphne Lee

Lee was brought up on a farm near the Mataura River in Southland, and attended Gore High School, where she was a member of the geology club.^[1] Lee studied geology at the University of Otago and went on to complete a PhD in 1981, studying part-time while she had a family. Her dissertation was titled The Cenozoic and Recent rhynchonellide brachiopods of New Zealand, with an account of the Eocene and Paleocene brachiopod faunas. She joined the university in 1988, and was for many years the only woman faculty member in the Department of Geology.^[1][2] Lee’s research group was “the largest and most active university paleontological group” in New Zealand. Lee was an Associate Professor at the Geology Department of the University of Otago, from which she retired in 2018.^[1][3][4] In 2024 she was awarded the title emeritus professor, "in recognition of her outstanding career as one of New Zealand’s most prominent, dedicated and passionate paleontologists".^[1][5] She is a coordinator of a research team that has focused on researching the fossil site Foulden Maar.^[6][7] Lee is the curator of the University of Otago Geology Museum.^[1]

Lee led the GSNZ’s Geoeducation Subcommittee, which later became the Geological Education Special Interest Group. She co-founded the committee in 1983 and led it until 2005.^[8] The group created teaching materials and contributed to the national science curriculum for years 1–11, ensuring that earth science was included in the science curriculum in all schools.^[8] Lee specialises in palaeobotany and invertebrate paleontology, and is a recognised authority on living and fossil brachiopods.^[5]

Lee has published both scholarly research as well as a book on the fossils of Foulden Maar.^[9] Lee was a vocal opponent of the proposed mining of Foulden Maar.^[10][11]