POSTDOC
Princeton University
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellows Program

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Dr. Rob Nelson,
the Beck Fellow in Astrophysics, completed his undergraduate studies at Columbia and received a Ph.D. from Cornell University in 1991. He was a postdoctoral fellow, first at the University of Toronto and then at the California Institute of Technology, before coming to Princeton. At Princeton, he has co-taught, with Professor Scott Tremaine, a new freshman seminar entitled "New Worlds: The Search for Extrasolar Planets." This course concentrated on the technology and scientific process which led to the recent discovery of jupiter-mass planets beyond our solar system. On the research front, Dr. Nelson at first continued his research in high-energy and planetary astrophysics. However, his future career plans are evolving: Rob will spend the 2000/2001 academic year at Princeton's Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, working with Professor Frank von Hippel on issues of nuclear arms control and the global environment. Rob feels it is increasingly important that scientists become involved in the technical challenges facing our rapidly changing world.