astronomy

Neal K. Van Alfen

Neal K. Van Alfen is a astronomy 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 Neal K. Van Alfen rather than just read about it. In short: Neal K. Van Alfen is an American plant pathologist.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Neal K. Van Alfen is an American plant pathologist. He was the dean of the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences from 1999 to 2012 and the editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology from 2004 to 2014.

Early life and education Neal K. Van Alfen was born to parents Marguerite née Noorda and Gerrit Van Alfen. Gerrit Van Alfen was an emigrant from the Netherlands. He grew up in Modesto, California and worked farm-related jobs in his youth, including harvesting peaches and on chicken farms. He attended Brigham Young University for his bachelor's degree in chemistry and his master's degree in botany. For his PhD he attended the University of California, Davis, majoring in plant pathology.

Career He taught at Utah State University and Texas A&M University before returning to UC Davis. He researched problems in international agricultural systems, including those of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Thailand, Israel and Kazakhstan. He became the dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in 1999. He retired from his position as dean in 2012. Upon his retirement, he became a dean emeritus and professor emeritus of plant pathology. His works include editing the Encyclopedia of Agriculture and Food Systems. He was also the editor of the Annual Review of Phytopathology from 2004–2014.

Awards and honors He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Phytopathological Society. He is also an honorary fellow of the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation and a former president of the American Phytopathological Society.

Personal life After retiring from UC Davis, he returned to farming on his property in Winters, California in Yolo County. He grows citrus, grapes, and olives. He also serves as the vice president of the Yolo Land Trust. He is married to Pam Kazmierczak.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Neal K. Van Alfen

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Neal K. Van Alfen claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, 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 Neal K. Van Alfen 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 Neal K. Van Alfen 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 Neal K. Van Alfen

In research: Neal K. Van Alfen appears in astronomy 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 Neal K. Van Alfen 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: Neal K. Van Alfen is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American people of Dutch descent, American phytopathologists, Annual Reviews (publisher) editors, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Neal K. Van Alfen 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 “Neal K. Van Alfen” →

Affiliate

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

How to study Neal K. Van Alfen in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Neal K. Van Alfen 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 Neal K. Van Alfen out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Neal K. Van Alfen in simple terms?

Neal K. Van Alfen is an American plant pathologist.

Why does Neal K. Van Alfen matter?

Because it connects several astronomy 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 Neal K. Van Alfen?

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 Neal K. Van Alfen.