Person

Watson, Jeanette Esther (Jan) (1927 - 2021)

AM

Born
12 October 1927
Ballarat, Victoria, Australia
Died
7 November 2021
Victoria, Australia
Occupation
Marine zoologist and Metallurgist

Summary

Jan Watson studied metallurgical chemistry, having been prevented from enrolling in geology, at the Ballarat School of Mines, the first female science tudent at the School. Undeterred, she ultimately graduated in geology from the Melbourne Technical College. Having learned to SCUBA dive in the early 1960s her interests turned towards marine zoology. She became a world authority on the taxonomy and ecology of hydroids. Watson's diving skills were integral to her marine research. She discovered a new algal family while diving at 75metres in Great Australian Bight. In 1972, having completed a benthic survey of a proposed thermal outfall for Victoria's State Electricity Commission, Watson established the successful consultancy, Marine Science and Ecology, to provide environmental assessments to industry. She was active in scientific societies, joining the Australian Marine Sciences Association on its foundation, and being a Member of the Royal Societies of South Australia and Victoria. For many years she was a member of the Marine Research Group of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria, and an Honorary Associate of Museum Victoria where the majority of her hydroid collection is located.

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Details

Chronology

1947
Education - Diploma of Applied Chemistry, School of Mines Ballarat (SMB)
1947 - 1949
Career position - Metallurgical chemist, M. B. Johns Valves, Ballarat
1951
Career position - Metallurgical Chemist, Defence Research Laboratories, Maribyrnong
c. 1961 - c. 1971
Career position - Secondary school science teacher
1962 - 2002
Career position - Foundation Member, Australian Marine Sciences Association
1972
Career event - Established marine environmental consultancy Marine Science and Ecology
1991
Education - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Deakin University
2002 -
Award - Honorary Life Member, Australian Marine Sciences Association
2019
Award - Distinguished Alumni Award, Federation University
2020
Award - Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to marine science and ecology, and to professional associations

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Helen Cohn

Created: 20 June 2022, Last modified: 1 July 2025

EOAS ID: biogs/P007016b.htm

This Edition: 2026 February - 1926 Centenaries
Kooyang - Gariwerd calendar - Late summer: late January to late March - season of eels
Reference: https://www.bom.gov.au/resources/indigenous-weather-knowledge/indigenous-seasonal-calendars/gariwerd-calendar#bom-anchor-list__item-kooyang-season-of-eels

Publisher: Swinburne University of Technology.

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"... the rengitj, as a visible mark or imprint on the land, is characterised as a place of origin, the repository of all names, as well as a kind of mapped visual expression of the connection between people and places which is to be carried out in the temporal sequence of the journey." Fanca Tamisari (1998) 'Body, Vision and Movement: In the footprints of the ancestors'. Oceania 68(4) p260