Lee Groat graduated from Queen’s University with a B.Sc. (Honours, Geology) in 1982 and from the University of Manitoba with a Ph.D. in 1988. From 1988 to 1989 he was a NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at Cambridge University.
Professor Groat has been a faculty member at the University of British Columbia since 1989. His main research interests are the economic geology (including strategic elements) and the crystal chemistry of minerals. He has published more than 150 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
From 2001 to 2006 Dr. Groat was Editor of American Mineralogist. He is the former Co-Editor (2012) and present Editor (2013-present) of The Canadian Mineralogist.
In 2003 Dr. Groat was elected a Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of America, and in 2009 the new mineral groatite, NaCaMn2+2(PO4)[PO3(OH)]2, was named in his honour. In 2019 he was awarded the Leonard G. Berry Medal for distinguished service to the Mineralogical Association of Canada.
Since 2007 Professor Groat has been Director of the Integrated Sciences at UBC, a program for the top students in science that allows them to customize their degrees.
Professor Groat is an Independent Director of multiple companies in the exploration and technology spheres and a partner in a private consulting company.