Lee was born in Lubbock, TX in 1963. With cattle eventually becoming the family business, Lee lived in several small towns around Texas before graduating from Pecos High School in 1982. He earned a BSc in Geological Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines in 1987 and entered the mining industry. After working on a gold project in Borneo for Pennzoil several years, he returned to the U. S. to work at the company's sulfur mine outside of Pecos, TX. He returned to school in 1992 eventually earning a MA in Energy and Mineral Resources from the University of Texas at Austin. For reasons he is happy to share but would take too much space here, he decided to teach secondary science. He currently teaches Aquatic Science, Astronomy, GMO (Geology, Meteorology, and Oceanography), and Physics at Lubbock High School. He was married to Ginny on July 4, 1998. They have two boys, Harrison and Carter, 5 and 2. They expect another before Christmas.