She argued for preservation of abandoned railroad rights-of-way for public use, and helped gain the development of the Illinois Prairie Path.

[5] She taught at several locations in northeastern Illinois between 1911 and 1924: Midlothian, Arlington Heights, Wilmette, and her alma mater in Chicago, Lake View High School.

In 1916, Watts went on a field trip with Cowles and other ecology students that "toured the Lake Superior region...In five weeks, the party visited sixteen towns, observed climax forests, hydrarch, bog, xerarch, and retrogressive successions, and identified numerous plants.

When she returned home, [she] transformed her field notes into an eighty-seven-page expedition notebook with hand-drawn maps, photographs, and plant lists.

[1][7] Jensen, Watts, and others worked to preserve the natural beauty of Ravinia's ravine landscape and advocated for the use of native plants in garden design.

[8] In 1939 Watts began working as a part-time teacher at The Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois; she was hired as a full-time staff naturalist in 1942.

[5] Watts developed popular educational programming at the Arboretum, including studies in botany, ecology, taxonomy, geology, gardening, sketching, nature literature, and creative writing.

[1] Watts led efforts to establish the Illinois Prairie Path on an abandoned railroad line, which stimulated the development of the rails-to-trails programs across the country.