Dr. Adam Watson


1930 - 2019

Ecologist, mountaineer, environmental campaigner and authority on the Cairngorm Mountains. Brought up in Turriff, Watson studied at the University of Aberdeen, although his interest in the environmental began in childhood. From the age of seventeen, he began mountaineering, greatly influenced by his friend Tom Weir (b.1914). He spent his professional career in scientific research, with the Nature Conservancy Council and the Institute of Terrestrial Ecology at Banchory. He has written thirty books and 600 papers and reports on landscape and wildlife, including the definitive mountaineering guide The Cairngorms, which has been in-print since the 1960s. He was a self-taught expert in Deeside Gaelic and published The Place Names of Upper Deeside in 1984.

He was a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1971), held four doctorates and received several awards. Watson was a founding-trustee of the John Muir Trust, and was presented with a lifetime achievement award at their 21st anniversary conference at the Pitlochry Festival Theatre in 2004.

Watson lived in Crathes, where he continued his scientific research, involving the recording of Ptarmigan, Golden Eagles and snow-patches in the Cairngorms. He died in Banchory. His portrait hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.


Use the tabs on the right of this page to see other parts of this entry arrow

If you have found this information useful please consider making
a donation to help maintain and improve this resource. More info...

By using our site you agree to accept cookies, which help us serve you better