Dr. Watts is a Professor of Oceanography at the Graduate School of Oceanography of the University of Rhode Island. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from Cornell University (1973) and a B.A. in Physics from of California at Riverside (1966). From 1972 to 1974, he was a Postdoc in the Department of Geology and Geophysics of Yale University working with Dr. Tom Rossby. In 1974, he joined the faculty of the Graduate School of Oceanography of the University of Rhode Island as Assistant Professor. Dr. Watts was granted tenure in 1980 and promoted to Full Professor in 1988.
Dr. Watts' research has focused on understanding mesoscale dynamics of major ocean currents using moored instrumentation. For many years his field programs were concentrated on the Gulf Stream in the region downstream of Cape Hatteras in order to understand the dynamics and energetics of that current system. More recent field experiments have been conducted in the Kuroshio Extension east of Japan, Gulf of Mexico, Japan/East Sea and the Agulhas Current off South Africa . These programs have included observations made by inverted echo sounders, pressure gauges, current meters and hydrography. Further details of his reserach activities can be found at the Dynamics of Ocean Currents and Fronts Homepage.
Dr. Watts has been actively involved with the development of the inverted echo sounder since it was first used to make scientific measurements in the mid-1970's. During the 1980's, he oversaw modifications to the IESs to incorporate additional sensors for measuring pressure, temperature and ambient noise. At present, Dr. Watts is overseeing the latest improvements to the Model 6.1E inverted echo sounder which permits current measurements and data telemetry.
List of scientific journal articles published since 1995.
URI's Academic
Profile for Dr. Watts
Graduate School of Oceanography
University of Rhode Island
Last Updated: 8/15/2005