astronomy

Rebecca Vega Thurber

Rebecca Vega Thurber 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 Rebecca Vega Thurber rather than just read about it. In short: Rebecca Vega Thurber (born December 30, 1975) is an American microbial ecologist and coral reef scientist. She is a Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology and the Director of the Marine Science Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Rebecca Vega Thurber (born December 30, 1975) is an American microbial ecologist and coral reef scientist. She is a Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology and the Director of the Marine Science Institute at University of California, Santa Barbara. She was named Pernot distinguished chair of microbiology at Oregon State University in 2020. She is a team leader of the Tara Pacific expedition and co-producer of the coral reef documentary Saving Atlantis.

Scientific career Vega Thurber was awarded a US National Science Foundation Minority Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue postdoctoral research at San Diego State University under the supervision of Forest Rohwer in coral virology and microbiology. Her first faculty appointment was as an assistant professor in the Department of Biology at Florida International University. She subsequently moved to Oregon State also as an assistant professor in the Department of Microbiology, where is an associate professor holding the Pernot distinguished chair. She is now at UCSB and is the Director of the Marine Science Institute.

Research Vega Thurber started her research career as a developmental biologist studying apoptosis in early embryogenesis in the model invertebrate organism, the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. It was during her postdoctoral years, when she switched her focus to coral reef science and coral viruses and bacteria in particular. She uncovered that corals contain unique assemblages of viruses that are involved mediating coral reef health. In those early years, Vega Thurber adopted the use genomic and bioinformatic approaches to her research enabling metagenome and microbiome-based inferences. As a faculty member she expanded collaborations with marine ecologists, Deron Burkepile, Erinn Muller among others. Those collaborations led to the discovery of major roles microbial assemblages play in coral reef environments. Her standing as a world expert in coral microbiology led her to be appointed as one of the lead scientists of the Tara Pacific Expedition. Vega Thurber is a member of the NSF Long Term Ecological Research Network in Moorea, Tahiti.

Mentorship Vega Thurber has mentored 14 Ph.D. students and 11 postdocs. She has mentored dozens of undergraduate students in marine microbiology.

Awards and professional service

1999: Alfred P. Sloan Graduate student Fellow. 2001: California Sea Grant Graduate Student Fellow. 2003: EPA NCER STAR Graduate Student Fellow. 2006: U.S. National Science Foundation Minority Postdoctoral Fellow. 2014: Oregon State University's Faculty of the Game Award. 2016. Oregon State University Impact Award for Outstanding Scholarship. 2020: Oregon State University Pernot Distinguished Chair in Microbiology. 2024: Director of the Marine Science Institute, University of California Santa Barbara

Selected publications Vega Thurber R, Mydlarz L, Brandt M, Harvell D, Weil E, Raymundo L, Willis BL, Langevin S, Tracy AM, Littman R, Kemp KM, Garren M, Lamb J. (2020) Deciphering coral disease dynamics: Integrating host, microbiome, and the changing environment. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.575927 Vega Thurber R, Payet JP, Thurber AR, Correa AMS. (2017) Virus-host interactions and their roles in coral reef health and disease. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 15: 205-216 doi:10.1038/nrmicro.2016.176 Zaneveld JR, McMinds R, Vega Thurber R. Stress and Stability: Applying the Anna Karenina principle (AKP) to animal microbiomes. (2017) Nature Microbiology 2: 17121 doi:10.1038/nmicrobiol.2017.121 Zaneveld JR, Burkepile DE, Shantz AA, Pritchard CE, McMinds R£, Payet JP, Welsh RM£, Correa AMS, Lemoine, NP, Rosales SM£, Fuchs C, Maynard JA, Vega Thurber R. (2016) Overfishing and nutrient pollution interact with temperature to disrupt coral reefs down to microbial scales. Nature Communications 7:11833 doi: 10.1038/ncomms11833. Vega Thurber R, Burkepile DE, Shantz AA£, Fuchs C, Zaneveld JR, McMinds R. (2014). Chronic nutrient enrichment increases prevalence and severity of coral disease and bleaching. Global Change Biology 20: 544–554 doi: 10.1111/gcb.12450

References

External links https://science.oregonstate.edu/directory/rebecca-l-vega-thurber https://vegathurberlab.wixsite.com/microbiology Rebecca Vega Thurber publications indexed by Google Scholar

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Rebecca Vega Thurber

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Rebecca Vega Thurber 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 Rebecca Vega Thurber 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 Rebecca Vega Thurber 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 Rebecca Vega Thurber

In research: Rebecca Vega Thurber 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 Rebecca Vega Thurber 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: Rebecca Vega Thurber is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1975 births, American marine biologists, American women marine biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Rebecca Vega Thurber 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 “Rebecca Vega Thurber” →

Affiliate

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

How to study Rebecca Vega Thurber in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Rebecca Vega Thurber in simple terms?

Why does Rebecca Vega Thurber 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 Rebecca Vega Thurber?

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 Rebecca Vega Thurber.