Login
Login

Joyce Watson (chemist)

{{short description|New Zealand chemist (1918–2015)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Use New Zealand English|date=January 2021}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Joyce Watson

| native_name =

| native_name_lang =

| image = Biochemistry laboratory at the Cawthron Institute, Nelson, around 1949 (cropped).jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Watson at the Cawthron Institute in {{circa|1949}}

| birth_name =

| birth_date = 5 July 1918

| birth_place = Nelson, New Zealand

| death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|09|28|1918|07|05|df=y}}

| death_place = Nelson, New Zealand

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| other_names =

| citizenship =

| nationality = New Zealand

| fields = trace elements in crops, fruit disorders

| workplaces = Cawthron Institute

| patrons =

| alma_mater = University of Canterbury

| thesis1_title = A phase rule investigation of the three component system BaO – (CH3CO)2O – H2O at 25 degrees C., and 35 degrees C

| thesis1_url = https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/7941

| thesis1_year = 1940

| doctoral_advisor =

| academic_advisors =

| doctoral_students =

| notable_students =

| known_for =

| author_abbrev_bot =

| author_abbrev_zoo =

| influences =

| influenced =

| awards = FNZIC

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website =

| footnotes =

| spouse =

| children =

}}

Joyce Watson FNZIC (5 July 1918 – 28 September 2004) was a New Zealand chemist specialising in fruit disorders and trace elements.

Academic career

Watson was born in Nelson in 1918, the daughter of Helen "Nellie" Knaggs Watson (1883–1956; {{nee|Clark}}) and Francis George Watson (1887–1957).{{cite web |title=Joyce Watson |url=https://www.ancestry.com.au/family-tree/person/tree/167426588/person/242200667138/facts |publisher=Ancestry |access-date=2 January 2021}}{{subscription required}} She received her education at Christchurch Girls' High School.{{Cite news|date=9 Oct 2004|title=Valued NZ researcher|work=The Press }} After a BSc in 1939, Watson completed an MSc titled A phase rule investigation of the three component system BaO–(CH3CO)2O–H2O at 25°C and 35°C in 1940 at Canterbury College, then part of the University of New Zealand.{{cite thesis |last=Watson |first=Joyce |year=1940 |type=Masters thesis |title=A phase rule investigation of the three component system BaO - (CH3CO)2O - H2O at 25 degrees C.,and 35 degrees C |publisher=UC Research Repository, University of Canterbury |hdl=10092/7941 |doi=10.26021/8936 |url=https://ir.canterbury.ac.nz/handle/10092/7941}} She then moved to the Cawthron Institute in 1941, where she was employed as an assistant pasture chemist.

Watson's research began with investigating the disorders of fruit caused by trace element deficiencies, and progressed into tomatoes, pasture, hops, flax and tobacco.{{Cite web|title=Joyce Watson|url=https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1918-1967/joyce-watson/|access-date=2021-01-02|website=Royal Society Te Apārangi|archive-date=24 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124151501/https://www.royalsociety.org.nz/150th-anniversary/150-women-in-150-words/1918-1967/joyce-watson/|url-status=live}} Watson's work on the fruit disorder bitter pit led to the discovery that the cause is calcium deficiency. Calcium sprays are still used to prevent the disorder.

When takahē were rediscovered in 1948, Watson was tasked by the Wildlife Service with analysing the tussock to assist with captive rearing and to discover whether the application of fertiliser might improve bird health. The work may have led to the application of nitrogen and phosphorus to the tussock.{{Cite news|last=Cook|first=Alan|date=July 2015|title=Behind the lab door: an inside look at how the Cawthron Institute survived and prospered, 1970–1992|url=http://www.theprow.org.nz/assets/Cooke-on-Cawthron.pdf|access-date=1 January 2021|archive-date=22 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210222025542/http://theprow.org.nz/assets/Cooke-on-Cawthron.pdf|url-status=live}}

Watson died on 28 September 2004 at the Omaio Village Rest Home in Nelson.

Recognition

In 1971 Watson was made a Fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry, an honour bestowed on only three other women by that point.

In 2017, Watson was selected as one of the Royal Society Te Apārangi's 150 women in 150 words.

Selected works

  • {{CiteQ|Q58932695}}
  • {{CiteQ|Q104626663}}
  • {{CiteQ|Q104626628}}
  • {{CiteQ|Q104626614}}
  • {{CiteQ|Q104626664}}
  • {{CiteQ|Q104626705}}
  • {{CiteQ|Q104626708}}
  • {{CiteQ|Q104626728}}

References

{{reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Joyce}}

Category:New Zealand women chemists

Category:People associated with the Cawthron Institute

Category:1918 births

Category:2004 deaths

Category:University of Canterbury alumni

Category:Fellows of the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry

Category:Scientists from Nelson, New Zealand

Category:People educated at Christchurch Girls' High School