Following his retirement as a National Defence research scientist in 1975, Gordon Watson returned to university where he studied for and obtained a Master's degree in archaeology from Trent University. His thesis outlined the long culture history in the Rideau Lakes area.
1980 The Wight Site: A Multicomponent Site on the Lower Rideau Lake, Leeds County, Ontario. M.A. Thesis, Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario.