Okhee Lee joined the University of Miami faculty in 1990 after earning her Ph.D. in educational psychology from Michigan State University. Her research areas include science education, language and culture, and teacher education.. 

She has directed research and teacher enhancement projects funded by the National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Education, Spencer Foundation, and Florida Department of Education. One of her current research projects implements instructional interventions to promote science learning and English language development of English language learners in urban elementary schools.

Lee was awarded a 1993-95 National Academy of Education Spencer Post-doctoral Fellowship. She was a 1996-97 fellow at the National Institute for Science Education, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received the Distinguished Career Award from the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Standing Committee for Scholars of Color in Education in 2004.

She serves on editorial boards for major education research journals as well as advisory boards for science education reform projects. Her research has appeared in the American Educational Research Journal , Educational Researcher , Review of Educational Research , Review of Research in Education, Teachers College Record , Journal of Research in Science Teaching , Science Education, and Bilingual Research Journal