Nelson Heller is education adviser to the International Centre for Earth Simulation (ICES), whose mission is to integrate the vast pools of knowledge contained within today's multitude of scientific and socio-economic specializations and to develop next-generation "holistic" modeling, simulation, and visualizations that accurately depict the medium- and long-term future direction of planet Earth. ICES founder Bob Bishop spoke at FiRe 2014; his TEDx talk given a few years ago at the UK's Warwick University provides an overview of the organization's philosophy. The mission of ICESedu, ICES' education program, is to distill ICES' resources and agenda to formats, resources, and programs accessible to high-school students to help them prepare for the challenges they'll face in the world they are inheriting. ICESedu is seeking partners in this endeavor as, to date, it has no educational outreach below the university research level.

In 2011, Nelson launched the HellerResults Group - a consulting firm working selectively in educational entrepreneuring, particularly educational technology at the pre-K-12 level. He retired in 2014 from a career in educational publishing, ending his formal affiliation with the EdNET Conference and HellerReports news and communications products, which he founded in 1989.

Previously, Nelson was president of the EdNET unit at the MDR division of Dun & Bradstreet. The EdNET brand covered publication of a weekly B2B emailed industry news service reaching over 31,000 education industry execs worldwide, the annual EdNET: Educational Networking Conference, and EdNET Insight, a market intelligence and decision support service.

Nelson has been quoted in numerous business publications and has spoken and keynoted at many domestic and international conferences. EdNET is the leading venue for networking and professional development for K-12 education industry executives. Over the years, thousands of companies and executives have attended, resulting in countless partnerships, ranging from acquaintanceships to contracts to acquisitions. Starting just after 9/11, the division offered periodic EdNET Virtual Roundtables providing 90-minute discussions with panels of experts regarding key issues impacting educational sales and marketing. As many as 150 sites, with over 500 participants, have interacted in individual programs. Initially delivered using telephone technology, the programs evolved into webinars now commonplace in the education industry.

In 2002, Nelson sold The Heller Reports to the QED division of Scholastic Inc. and headed that unit at QED. In 2009, QED was acquired by MDR. Prior to starting The Heller Reports in 1988, he served as research vice president for SFN, the holding company for educational publishers Scott, Foresman; South-Western Publishing; University Park Press; and Silver Burdett, as well as owner of radio and television stations, information services, and legal and medical publishing businesses.

Nelson is a recipient of the "Making It Happen" education industry award and, in 2009, was inducted into the K-12 education industry's Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, master's and graduate Engineers degrees from MIT, and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.