He and Lovelock introduced the Daisyworld model in 1983, showing how ecological competition between hypothetical "daisies" could affect planetary albedo and regulate environmental temperature.
[2] Watson and his students have subsequently developed a priori models for the regulation of atmospheric composition through geological time.
[4] He and colleagues applied these to measure the slow mixing vertical rates in the ocean,[5] and to trace the movement of patches of surface water.
[7] More than a dozen such experiments have now been carried out[8] and have proved that iron is an essential limiting nutrient in important areas of the world ocean.
In 2015, Watson appeared on Charlie Brooker's Weekly Wipe Series 3, interviewed by the character, Philomena Cunk.