Dr. Robert N. Nelson

Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics, Code 691
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771

Phone: (301) 286-5620

email: Robert_N_Nelson@GaSoU.edu

Present Position:

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Georgia Southern College

Research Area Experience:

Vapor pressures of species in outer planet atmospheres; cosmic dust analogues; sun photometry for greenhouse gas measurement.

Education:

1963 - Sc.B., Chemistry, Brown University
1969 - Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, Mass. Inst. of Tech.

Previous Positions:

6/82- Present: Associate Professor of Chemistry, Georgia Southern College

9/70-6/82: Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Georgia Southern College

7/95-8/97: Astrophysicist, Astrochemistry Branch, NASA GSFC
under Intergovermental Personnel Act Agreement with Georgia Southern University

12/86-9/87: Visiting Scientist, Astrochemistry Branch, NASA GSFC
(Also summers of 1986, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93)

3/81-5/81: Visiting Lecturer, Chemistry Dept., Univ. of Georgia

2/77-8/78: Visiting Asst. Professor, Chemistry Dept., Colgate Univ.

9/69-8/70: Interim Assistant Professor, Chemistry Dept., Univ. of Florida

6/63-8/63: Physical Science Summer Trainee, US. Atomic Energy Comm.
New York Operations Office, Health and Safety Laboratory

Professional Societies:

Sigma Xi
American Chemical Society
American Physical Society
American Association of University Professors
American Astronomical Society - Division for Planetary Sciences

Honors:

NASA-ASEE Summer Faculty Fellowship at NASA GSFC, 1984
U.S.E.P.A. Postdoctoral Fellow, Univ. of Georgia, 1981-83
Mini-Fellowship, Faculty Research Fund, Georgia Southern Coll., 1982
U.S.A.E.C. Postdoctoral Fellow, Chem. Dept., Brown Univ., 1975
Sigma Xi Grant-In-Aid of Research, 1972
Postdoctoral Fellow, Chemistry Dept., Univ. of Florida, 1968-70
N.A.S.A. Predoctoral Traineeship, Chem. Dept., Mass. Inst. of Tech., 9/65-9/68
N.S.F. Summer Undergraduate Fellowship, Chem. Dept., Brown Univ. 1962

Selected Publications:

Kraus, G.F., J.A. Nuth, III, and R.N. Nelson, "Is SiS2 the Carrier of the Unidentified 21 Micron Emission Feature?," Astron. and Astrophys., 1997, accepted for publication.

Nelson, R.N., J.E. Allen, Jr., B.C. Harris, Sr., "Low-Temperature Vapor Pressures of Ethylene and Propane," Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc., 1997, 28, 1009 (Poster presentation at Div. of Planetary Sci. Meeting of Amer. Astron. Soc. 7/97).

Allen, J.E. Jr., R.N. Nelson, and B.C. Harris, Sr., "A measurement system for low-temperature thermodynamic properties," Bull. Amer. Astron. Soc. 1996, 28, 1157 (Poster presentation at Div. of Planetary Sci. Meeting of Amer. Astron. Soc. 10/96 ).

R. Nelson, M. Thiemens, J. Nuth, and B. Donn,"Oxygen Isotopic Fractionation in the Condensation of Refractory Smokes," Proceedings of the 19th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 1989, pp. 559-63.

J A Nuth, R N Nelson, M Moore, B Donn, "Experimental Studies of Circumstellar, Interstellar, and Interplanetary Refractory Grains Analogs," in Experiments on Cosmic Dust Analogs, E. Bussoletti, et. al. (eds.), Kluwer Academic Publishers 1988, pp. 191-207.

R N Nelson, J A Nuth, and B Donn, "A Kinetic Study of Hydrous Alteration of Amorphous MgSiO Smokes: Implications for Cometary Particles and Chondrite Matrix," Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. XVII, J. Geophys. Res. 1987, 92, B4, E657-62.

J A Nuth, B Donn, and R N Nelson, "Refractory Grain Processing in Circumstellar Shells: Diagnostic Infrared Signatures," Ap. J. Lett. 1986, 310, L83-86.

J Nuth, B Donn, R deSeife, A Donn, & R N Nelson, "Hydrous Alteration of Amorphous Silicate Smokes: First Report," Proc. Lunar Planet. Sci. Conf. XVI, J. Geophys. Res. 1986, 91, D533-537.

Thiemens, M.H, R. Nelson, Q.W. Dong, J.A. Nuth, III, "First observation of a mass independent isotopic fractionation in a condensation reaction," Poster Paper presented at 25th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, Houston, TX, 3/14/94.

R N Nelson,"A Statewide Hazardous Materials program: its effect on college laboratory practice," Paper presented to Division of Chemical Health and Safety, Meeting of the American Chemical Society, Atlanta, GA, April 1991.

Last Updated: Thursday, 21 August 2003 at 09:47:29 EST