Rate My Professor Nathan Garland

Dr. Nathan Garland is a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics and Physics in the ESC - Applied Mathematics, Statistics and Physics section of the School of Environment and Science at Griffith University, part of Griffith Sciences. He has been at Griffith since 2021 and is affiliated with the Queensland Quantum and Advanced Technologies Research Institute (QUATRI). Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher in the T-5 Applied Mathematics and Plasma Physics group within the Theoretical Division at Los Alamos National Laboratory from 2018 to 2021. Garland completed his PhD in Computational Physics at James Cook University in 2018. His doctoral work focused on electron transport phenomena, building on his earlier Bachelor of Engineering from the same institution.

Garland's research specializes in computational modelling of charged particle transport and plasmas across diverse applications. Key interests include electron swarm transport, electron transport in biomolecular gaseous and liquid systems, plasma physics, fluid model analysis, electron scattering, low-temperature plasmas, fusion plasmas, and integration of atomic data into plasma frameworks. He leads the GNAMPP Research Group at Griffith University. Notable publications encompass 'Electron swarm transport in THF and water mixtures' (2014), 'Electron transport in biomolecular gaseous and liquid systems: theory, experiment and self-consistent cross-sections' (2018), 'Transport properties of electron swarms in tetrahydrofuran under the influence of an applied electric field' (2013), 'Neural network representability of fully ionized plasma fluid model closures' (2020), 'Impact of a minority relativistic electron tail interacting with a thermal plasma containing high-atomic-number impurities' (2020), and 'Electron transport and negative streamers in liquid xenon' (2019). These works, published in prestigious journals such as the Journal of Chemical Physics and Physics of Plasmas, have garnered significant citations and advanced plasma modelling techniques. Garland teaches courses like Topics in Applied Mathematics 2 (6206NSC) and supervises honours projects on plasma jets, fusion plasma modelling, uncertainty quantification, and machine learning in plasma physics. He contributes to public discourse through expert commentary on nuclear fusion breakthroughs in The Conversation and a Griffith News article analyzing Taylor Swift's music mathematically. He previously received an Australian Postgraduate Award during his PhD.