In 2013 Prof Nelson was previously appointed as a Separations Engineer in the Thermodynamics Research Unit. In 2017 he was then appointed as a Senior Lecturer at the Discipline of Chemical Engineering. He is an established researcher within the Thermodynamics Research Unit. His research areas include thermodynamics and separation technology, wherein he has been innovative in the development of new high pressure phase equilibrium equipment and chemical separation processes. In 2013, he was a corecipient of the South African Institution of Chemical Engineers (SAIChE) Innovation award.