Watson, Harlan L.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Harlan L. Watson
Ambassador and Special Envoy to the United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change
Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs

 Dr. Harlan L. Watson is the Special Envoy to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change at the U.S. Department of State. In September 2008, President Bush accorded to Dr. Watson the Personal Rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Special Envoy. He also chairs the Policy and Implementation Committee of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

He previously served nearly 7 years as Senior Climate Negotiator and Special Representative at the U.S. Department of State, and for more than 16 years on the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Science, including over 6 ½ years as Staff Director of the Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Subcommittee on Energy and Environment.

Ambassador Watson’s further U.S. government experience includes serving as Science Advisor to Secretary of the Interior and as Principal Deputy and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior for Water and Science, and as a professional staff member of the U.S. Senate’s Subcommittee on Energy, Nuclear Proliferation, and Federal Services.

Ambassador Watson earned a B.A. in Physics from Western Illinois University, a Ph.D. in Physics from Iowa State University, and an M.A. in Economics from Georgetown University.

Revised October 2008