biology

Karen E. Nelson

Karen E. Nelson is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Karen E. Nelson rather than just read about it. In short: Karen Nelson is a Jamaican-born American microbiologist (specializing in human microbiome research) who was formerly president of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI).

Key takeaways

Karen E. Nelson belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Karen E. Nelson to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Karen E. Nelson from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Karen Nelson is a Jamaican-born American microbiologist (specializing in human microbiome research) who was formerly president of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI). On July 6, 2021 she joined Thermo Fisher Scientific as Chief Scientific Officer.

Education Nelson studied her undergraduate degree at the University of the West Indies and earned a Ph.D. from Cornell University.

Career and research Nelson is a prominent expert in microbial genomics and metagenomics, with applications to human health. She is noted for her research on Thermotoga maritima at The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) which resulted in the publication of the genome of that bacterium, and which demonstrated the existence of horizontal gene transfer. Nelson is also known for her work in human microbiome research and her current research focuses on interactions between human microbiome and various diseases. Her extensive expertise involves areas of microbial ecology, microbial genomics, microbial physiology and metagenomics, which led to her team publishing the first human microbiome study in 2006. Nelson was appointed president of JCVI in 2012 after serving as the director of its Rockville Campus since 2010. Prior to being appointed President, she held a number of other positions at the Institute, including Director of JCVI's Rockville Campus, and Director of Human Microbiology and Metagenomics in the Department of Human Genomic Medicine at JCVI. She has authored or co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications, edited three books, and has served as editor-in-chief of the journal Microbial Ecology and the open-access journal PNAS Nexus. Scientific American named Nelson as one of biotechnology's "leading lights" in its 2015 "The Worldview 100."

Boards and panels Editor in Chief, PNAS Nexus Editor in Chief, Microbial Ecology Editor in Chief, Advances in Microbial Ecology Editorial Board Member, BMC Genomics Editorial Board Member, Giga Science Editorial Board Member, Central European Journal of Biology Board Member, Board on Life Sciences, National Academy of Sciences Member, Standing Committee on Support to the DoD's Programs to Counter Biological Threats, National Research Council

Professional organizations American Society for Microbiology

Honors and awards Helmholtz International Fellow Award Fellow, American Society for Microbiology ARCS Scientist of the Year (2017) Elected Member, National Academy of Sciences (2017)

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Karen E. Nelson

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Karen E. Nelson claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Karen E. Nelson before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Karen E. Nelson ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Karen E. Nelson

In research: Karen E. Nelson appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Karen E. Nelson in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Karen E. Nelson is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 21st-century African-American scientists, 21st-century African-American women, 21st-century American biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Karen E. Nelson outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Karen E. Nelson” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Karen E. Nelson in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Karen E. Nelson means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Karen E. Nelson out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Karen E. Nelson in simple terms?

Karen Nelson is a Jamaican-born American microbiologist (specializing in human microbiome research) who was formerly president of the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI).

Why does Karen E. Nelson matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Karen E. Nelson?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Karen E. Nelson.