Rate My Professor James Watson

James Watson serves as Associate Professor in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University, affiliated with the Climate Sciences unit and the Geography and Geospatial Science faculty. He joined the university in 2017 and directs the Socio-Environmental Analysis Lab. Watson's academic background includes a Ph.D. in Marine Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2011, an M.Sc. in Oceanography from the National Oceanography Centre, University of Southampton in 2004, and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of Bristol in 2001. His professional appointments prior to OSU encompass Research Assistant Professor at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University from 2014 to 2017, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Princeton University from 2013 to 2014, Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Atmospheric and Ocean Science Program, Department of Geosciences at Princeton University from 2011 to 2013, and Research Technician at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton from 2004 to 2006.

Watson's research focuses on complex adaptive systems, environmental science, social-ecological systems and quantitative analyses, seascape ecology, marine spatial planning, and coastal vulnerability. His projects investigate ocean connectivity and its implications for fisheries management, cooperative weather insurance for smallholder aquaculture systems, and prediction of illegal maritime activities from anomalous vessel behavior. In 2023, he was awarded a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to examine links between changing ocean conditions, fish movement, and potential conflict. Major honors include the DARPA Young Faculty Award in 2017, International Research Fellowship from Stockholm University in 2013, Luce Environmental Science to Solutions Fellowship in 2007, and Best Use of Technology in Fisheries poster award from the American Fisheries Society in 2007. Key publications include "Transnational corporations and the challenge of biosphere stewardship" with Carl Folke et al. (Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2019), "Resilience through Risk Management: Cooperative Weather Insurance in Small-holder Aquaculture Systems" (Heliyon, 2018), "The timescales of global surface-ocean connectivity" (Nature Communications, 2016), "Enhancing the resilience of blue foods to climate shocks using stand-by reinsurance" (ICES Journal of Marine Science, 2023), and "Human responses to climate change will likely determine future coral reef biodiversity" (PNAS, 2023). Watson's work informs strategies for marine resource governance and resilience in the face of climate change.