UNB Research

Dr. Chris Watson (B.Sc. ’08, M.Sc. ’11, PhD ‘15), a research scientist at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), has been appointed to the Canadian Committee on Antarctic Research (CCAR).

The CCAR, which is part of the Government of Canada’s Polar Knowledge Canada body (POLAR), provides advice and guidance to POLAR on Antarctic matters including opportunities to strengthen Canadian Antarctic research activities. It serves as Canada's National Committee under the international Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.

Watson works with UNB’s Radio and Space Physics Laboratory, where he studies the high-latitude ionosphere (“high latitude” refers to the areas near both poles). He is also the lead investigator of the Space Weather Ionospheric Network Canada (SWINCan) project, a network of radio instruments in the Arctic and Antarctica used for upper atmospheric monitoring and research.

“Antarctic research is extremely important for Canada in several regards,” said Watson. “The Antarctic environment plays a critical role in the global climate system, and we need to study this environment to better predict and understand long-term trends and the impacts of climate change.

“Increasing our knowledge of the ionosphere over Antarctica also helps us better understand the arctic ionosphere, as the two polar regions are closely linked. In turn, this enhances our ability to provide support for the reliable operation of systems such as global navigation satellite systems, radio communications and over-the-horizon-radar (OTHR), particularly in the Arctic. This has direct benefits for social, economic and military sectors within Canada that increasingly rely on these systems.”

“I look forward to building on the hard work of previous CCAR members in shaping Canada's involvement in Antarctic research. In particular, I am excited to further emphasize the importance of Antarctic atmospheric research, and of Canada's ability to lead it.”

More information

Dr. Chris Watson| Department of Physics | Faculty of Science

Research at UNB | Graduate Studies at UNB | Postdoctoral fellowships