[1][2] During her active research career from the 1940s to the 1960s, she made important contributions to the understanding of the biochemistry and photochemistry of vision in vertebrates and invertebrates.

Ruth decided to enroll at Radcliffe College with the intent to pursue a pre-medicine degree, which she attributes to the fact that everyone around her was a doctor.

[2] She was awarded a predoctoral fellowship by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1948, allowing her to study at the University College Hospital Medical School in London.

[13][11] She also identified the specific intermediate in the visual cycle (called metarhodopsin2) that leads to downstream effects, that culminate in a light-activated neural signaling to the brain[13][14][15] Hubbard also described the bleaching and resynthesis of the rhodopsin molecule each time a photon is absorbed.

Hubbard describes an instance where she was working with squid as one of the pivotal moments where her interests shifted from scientific research to social relevance.

Despite working with squid, cattle, and frogs for years when researching the complexities of vision, at that instant it suddenly began to bother her.

[2] They all had what Ruth called “nonjobs.” They had titles such as lecturer or associate which meant they had little to no job security, while their male-counterparts were either on the path to professorships or had already received tenure.

[9] This led Ruth and others to join a group that petitioned Harvard to reevaluate the job statuses of its female faculty.

[24] “Women and nonwhite, working-class and poor men have largely been outside the process of science-making,” Dr. Hubbard told The New York Times in 1981.

"[26] In a 2006 essay entitled "Race and Genes," she wrote: It is beyond comprehension, in this century which has witnessed holocausts of ethnic, racial, and religious extermination in many parts of our planet, perpetrated by peoples of widely different cultural and political affiliations and beliefs, that educated persons—scholars and popularizers alike—can come forward to argue, as though in complete innocence and ignorance of our recent history, that nothing could be more interesting and worthwhile than to sort out the "racial" or "ethnic" components of our thoroughly mongrelized species so as to ascertain the root identity of each and everyone of us.

She was concerned that people were attempting to assign every trait, disease, and behavior a genetic cause, leading to an oversimplification of science which does not consider the complexities of nature and outside factors.

In a letter published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Hubbard stated that if an epidemic caused by a recombinant organism were to break out, it would be almost impossible to distinguish it from the natural E. coli strains that humans are already exposed to.

She goes on to say that scientists are largely unable to grasp the concept of nature being part of life--- noting how she needed several years to understand the statement.

One notable instance from men is when they revive various old and unfounded biological theories on women to justify the typical subservient positions of the female gender.

She further exposits the issues revolving around gender equality that were mainly brought to her attention by how she and her colleagues suddenly started getting promoted from their "ghetto" lab positions right into proper titles.

[29] The essay asserts that women scientists must ultimately and paradoxically turn away from the sciences to make their stand against male supremacy as opposed to the many female and feminist poets, novelists, and artists that can illustrate their points clearly and easily.

In addition, artists, novelists, and poets can compose their works without being victim to review under the funding agencies that makes the use of scientific fact tedious and less effective.

Hubbard closes by saying that scientists never want their work to be forgotten and lost, and that she sides with feminism for political insight and analytic testing on the scientific assumptions about women.

[7] Ruth fondly remembered the months that the pair spent traveling via motorcycle across Europe as Frank researched harpsichords.

Some of his high-profile clients included Cesar Chavez, Lenny Bruce, and multiple members of the Black Panther Party.