[5] He took some biology courses at a community college, and secured a job working at San Francisco State University.

[5][6] Nelson then got a job at Panasonic energy solutions, in Silicon Valley, working on solar power and batteries.

[citation needed] He was contacted by a Professor from University of California, Berkeley, who helped him identify funding for graduate school.

[8] In particular, Nelson developed microcrystal electron diffraction (MicroED) to identify the locations of atoms within molecules at high resolution.

[4][11] Nelson attended the Kavli Frontiers of Science ceremony in 2020[12] and was a finalist for the 2021 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists.