Associate research physicist Dr. Eric Emdee uses the Scrape-Off Layer Plasma Simulator (SOLPS) to run predictive and interpretive simulations of fusion plasmas. His research interests are primarily about divertor physics in tokamaks. First joining PPPL as a graduate student in 2016, Eric wrote his thesis under the tutelage of professor Robert J. Goldston on the modeling of the lithium vapor box divertor, a detached divertor design being considered for implementation in NSTX-U. He received the Kaul Foundation Prize for his thesis work in 2023. Since being stationed at DIII-D, he has continued his research on detachment using lithium while studying neutral fueling asymmetry on DIII-D. Before coming to PPPL, Eric earned a bachelors in physics with a minor in mathematics from the University of California, Davis.