D. Randolph Watts

D. Randolph Watts is a Research Professor of Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography (GSO). He transitioned from faculty to marine research scientist to focus on observational physical oceanography without teaching responsibilities. His career spans from low-temperature physics at Cornell (PhD 1973) to fieldwork at Woods Hole and Yale, before joining URI in 1995. GSO is positioned as a major oceanographic program competing with MIT/Woods Hole.

• PhD Physics, Cornell University (1973)
• Bachelor's in Physics, University of California at Riverside (1966)

Specializing in physical oceanography, Watts investigates ocean current dynamics and their climate impacts. His research covers Gulf Stream, Loop Current, and Kuroshio Extension systems, focusing on meandering patterns, eddy variability, and cross-frontal heat fluxes. He pioneered inverted echo sounder (IES) applications for mapping deep ocean structures and quantifying heat content changes.

His 15 most recent publications reveal sustained work on:

• Antarctic Circumpolar Current dynamics (2025, 2016)
• Kuroshio Extension meandering (2012, 2013)
• Drake Passage transport mechanisms (2009, 2016)
• South Atlantic mass fluxes (2011)
• Labrador Sea heat content analysis (2005)
• Global applications of gravest empirical mode techniques

Scientific awards include:

• NSF Grant 0635437 for Drake Passage studies
• ONR Funding for Japan/East Sea research
• NSF Award 1358470 for Antarctic Circumpolar Current work
• NSF Award 2023306 for Southeast Indian Ridge research

Watts has mentored 17 graduate students since 2000, including 9 PhD candidates. He contributes to NSF, Office of Naval Research, and IPY initiatives, emphasizing observational rigor through:

• Deep ocean current meter arrays
• Pressure-recording Inverted Echo Sounders
• Mesoscale eddy tracking
• Cross-frontal flux quantification