I am from Colorado and use he/him/his pronouns. I received my Ph.D. from Princeton University in 2021 and am currently an Associate Research Scientist at Columbia University, where I serve as principal investigator on DOE Fusion Energy Sciences and private-industry fusion awards.

To learn more about my career, you can download a pdf of my CV here.

Please find my contact information below if you would like to get involved!

Research Profile

Research program focused on experimental work in magnetic confinement fusion, data-driven optimization and stability modeling of advanced tokamak configurations for fusion pilot plants, and integration of uncertainty quantification and AI-enabled workflows into high-fidelity physics simulations.

Academic Appointments

Associate Research Scientist

  • Columbia University, New York, NY (United States) 2022 – present
  • Principal investigator on DOE FES and private-industry fusion awards

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

  • Columbia University, New York, NY (United States) 2021 – 2022
  • Focus on negative triangularity scenarios for tokamaks and fusion outreach

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Plasma Physics

  • Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (United States) 2016 – 2021
  • Thesis: Comprehensive Dynamic Analysis of the H-mode Pedestal in DIII-D

Master of Arts (M.A.) in Plasma Physics

  • Princeton University, Princeton, NJ (United States) 2016 – 2018
  • Focus in experimental magnetic confinement fusion

Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Engineering Physics

  • University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO (United States) 2012 – 2016
  • Minors: Applied Mathematics, Leadership Studies

Research Funding

Principal Investigator

  • Accelerating the Realization of Fusion Energy Through Integrated Physics and Advanced Data Science · DOE Fusion Energy Sciences, Tokamak Research Program · 2025 – 2029 · $0.765M
  • ELM-free Pedestal Modeling · Tokamak Energy (private) · 2025 · $0.08M
  • Research on Negative Triangularity Tokamak · Next Step Fusion (private) · 2024 – 2025 · $0.165M
  • Next Step Pulse Design · Next Step Fusion (private) · 2026 – 2027 · $0.174M

Co-Principal Investigator

  • Advancing Intrinsically No-ELM and Small-ELM Regimes for Fusion Pilot Plants · DOE Fusion Energy Sciences, Tokamak Research Program · 2025 – 2029 · $0.8M
  • Closing Physics and Technology Gaps in Spherical Tokamaks Towards a Compact Fusion Pilot Plant · DOE Fusion Energy Sciences, Compact Toroidal Concepts Program · 2025 – 2029 · $1.421M

Selected Awards

  • 2018 — US Burning Plasma Association International ITER School Scholar
  • 2016 — CU Boulder Outstanding Graduate of the College of Engineering and Applied Science
  • 2016 — CU Boulder Engineering Physics Distinguished Graduate for Research
  • 2016 — Hertz Foundation Scholarship Finalist
  • 2015 — Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Scholar