Oscar Nordness

Current Position

Oscar is now an Assistant Professor in Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University.

Background

Oscar grew up in Stonington, Connecticut, a small fishing town in the southeast corner of the state. He completed his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Connecticut (UConn) where he researched Chemical Looping Combustion under Dr. George Bollas. Following undergrad, he obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Texas at Austin where he studied thermophysical properties and ion dissociation behavior of Ionic Liquid systems under the advising of Dr. Joan Brennecke. He is a coffee enthusiast who enjoys anything involving the ocean, the beach, or the general outdoors. He also loves to read, play basketball, and spend time with his Husky, Pasha.

Research

While in our group, Oscar's research focused on understanding ion transport behavior in polymer ionic liquids (PILs) for improved design of energy storage materials in collaboration with the Segalman Group at UCSB. The characterization approach combined various NMR techniques such as Pulse Field Gradient (PFG) NMR and Relaxometry with experimental methods including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) to elucidate ion behavior in these systems.

Education

• 2020-2023 – Postdoctoral Researcher, UC Santa Barbara.
• 2015-2020 – Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering (Prof. Joan Brennecke), University of Texas at Austin.
• 2011-2015 – B.S. in Chemical Engineering, University of Connecticut.