Andrew (Oak) Nelson became a member of the Columbia Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics Department in 2021. He is currently working on the development of negative triangularity scenarios for tokamak fusion reactors, both through experiments on the DIII-D and MAST-U tokamaks and modeling pursuits for future reactor development. Oak obtained his Ph.D. in Plasma Physics in July 2021 from Princeton University, where he conducted numerous experiments on the edge of DIII-D and KSTAR H-mode discharges and advanced several new methods for pedestal data analysis. At Princeton, he was extensively involved in program culture and academic development, and hopes to continue these pursuits throughout his career. Oak is from Colorado and enjoys hiking and climbing in the mountains.
Research Scientist