From the late 1990s through the 2000s, Joshua Watts worked on archaeological field projects across the Southwest, with an emphasis on the Hohokam of the Phoenix Basin. In the 2010s, he focused on computational modeling and simulation methods for researching both prehistoric and modern social systems (using models to study hurricane evacuation decisions in Florida, for example), and adapting those tools for use on high-performance computing clusters. At Archaeology Southwest, Watts is responsible for the cyberSW database and working with the Preservation Archaeologists and other professionals (and students) to develop research using that resource.