Justin Ball is an American scientist studying theoretical plasma physics and nuclear fusion energy. He works at the Swiss Plasma Center, a fusion laboratory within the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. His research primarily focuses on the effect of plasma shaping on turbulence in tokamaks. Additionally, he is an avid fusion science communicator via magazine articles, lectures, and podcasts. In 2019, he and Jason Parisi published a popular science book titled The Future of Fusion Energy.

Justin holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Master’s degree from MIT, both in Nuclear Engineering. In 2016, he completed a PhD in Theoretical Physics at the University of Oxford and received the European Plasma Physics PhD Thesis Award. Previously, he has worked at a nuclear power plant, a nuclear navy research laboratory, and a nuclear weapons laboratory.