Edward Bruce Watson (born 16 October 1950) is an American geochemist at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York.
Watson received in 1972 his bachelor's degree in geology from the University of New Hampshire and in 1976 his Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in geochemistry. As a postdoc, he worked at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. In 1977 became an assistant professor of geochemistry at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and was subsequently promoted to associate professor and full professor. Since 2011 he has also held a professorship of materials science and engineering. He was a visiting researcher in 1980 at Macquarie University in Sydney and in 1984 at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry in Mainz.[1]
Watson's research deals (mostly but not exclusively) with the geochemistry of the deep Earth inaccessible to drilling or other direct observation. He studies the chemical composition and materials present in these deep regions and their changes over geologic time. The geochemistry of Earth's deep crust and upper mantle (down to depths of about 150 kilometers) are studied in his laboratory through the design and execution of experiments involving high temperatures and high pressures.[2]
His research has included the following topics: