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'Watson among ‘The 50 Most Important Women in Science'
By Susan Killenberg McGinn Patty Jo Watson, Ph.D., the Edward Mallinckrodt Distin-guished University Professor of anthropology in Arts & Sciences, has been named one of "The 50 Most Important Women in Science" by Discover magazine. Featured in an article in the magazine's November issue, Watson is recognized for her path-breaking work in cave archaeology and for helping introduce the scientific method into archaeological studies.
The selection of Watson and the 49 other "extraordinary women across all the sciences" was the result of a project Discover started three years ago to look into the status of women in science. "To read their stories is to understand how important it is that the barriers facing women in science be broken down as quickly and entirely as possible," Svitil wrote in the article introducing the 50 scientists. "If just one of these women had gotten fed up and quit, as many do, the history of science would have been impoverished." Watson said that while she did not experience any overt discrimination during her graduate-student and early career days, she did become aware of problems women scientists faced once she started doing sustained research in North America. "I heard stories and observed myself the problems women had in getting supervisory and field experience," Watson said. There were a few senior male archaeologists in the United States as recently as the 1960s who -- as a matter of principle -- did not take women into the field. ‘Only men need apply.' "That blatant discrimination has gone now, so far as I am aware, and there are many more women getting advanced degrees in archaeology than was the case 30 years ago and before," she added. "But, of course, because of the decades of discriminatory, androcentric and sexist nature of field archaeology in some places, most of the senior, prestigious positions in academic archaeology are held by men. And there is still the proverbial "chilly climate" syndrome in some places -- women aren't denied, but they are made in subtle ways to feel unwelcome." Fortunately, in Watson's 40-plus-year career, she's felt only the chilly climate of deep, dark caves. Watson, who joined the Washington University faculty in 1969, has conducted groundbreaking fieldwork on agricultural origins in both the Near East and North America. She began her career excavating prehistoric sites in Iraq, Iran and Turkey, and then shifted her primary focus to North America, where she has excavated prehistoric pueblos in New Mexico and rock shelters, shell mounds and caves in Kentucky. She is especially well known for her work with artifacts left by prehistoric people who explored and mined Salts Cave, Kentucky, a portion of the world's longest cave system in Mammoth Cave National Park. She was among the first to develop techniques for flotation of archaeological remains to create efficient means to retrieve delicate charred plant remains from study sites. Plant evidence collected in this way has revolutionized understanding of the pattern and timing of plant domestication in many parts of the world. Edward S. Macias, Ph.D., executive vice chancellor and dean of Arts & Sciences, was not surprised by Discover's selection of Watson. "Pat Watson is an almost legendary figure in the field of archaeology," Macias said. "The methods she has developed have no less than revolutionized the way research is conducted in her field, and she has been honored numerous times for her contributions. She is also a splendid mentor and teacher, and Washington University has twice recognized her for her work with students. "She does it all, and in the process, enriching and advancing her field as well as Arts & Sciences." Watson is a member of both the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Other recent honors for Watson include election to the prestigious American Philosophical Society, the Gold Medal for Distinguished Archaeological Achievement from the Archaeological Institute of America, the Science Award from the National Speleological Society, and the University's Arthur Holly Compton Faculty Achievement Award. In 1995, she was one of six women scientists featured as role models in a PBS television series called Discovering Women. A scholar of both Old World and New World archaeology, Watson has authored or co-authored seven books and nearly 100 scientific articles and co-edited three books. She continues to study archaeological remains from caves and shell mounds in Kentucky and Tennessee. |
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