Andrew Watson

Andrew Watson (UK) is an Earth System scientist, now at the University of Exeter in the UK, with a special interest in the processes that set the composition of the atmosphere and oceans and have kept the Earth habitable over its long history. He has a special interest in atmospheric carbon dioxide and its connection to the Earth’s climate.

Andrew is an expert in the ocean’s role in the modern carbon cycle, as impacted by humans, and how the physics and biology of the oceans influence climate. He has contributed to a wide variety of topics, including the atmospheres of other planets, the history of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, paleoclimatology, astrobiology and the search for biosignatures on exoplanets.

Before joining the University of Exeter, Andrew was at the University of East Anglia from 1996 to 2013, and before that held positions at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and at the University of Michigan. He was elected to the Royal Society in 2003 for his work using tracer techniques to investigate ocean mixing and the role of iron as a nutrient for plankton. He is the author or co-author of over 200 peer reviewed papers, as well as opinion pieces and a book on Earth history.