James E. Atwater (born September 22, 1946) is a retired North American multidisciplinary physical scientist with training in geophysics, chemistry, and biological science. Atwater holds courtesy faculty appointments with the University of Oregon Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the School of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering at Oregon State University On ResearchGate he has accumulated a score for Research Interest of 385.8 with a total of 674 citations of his peer reviewed publications, as of June 8, 2022. He was awarded the Wright Brothers Medal for his work on microwave powered methods for microbial stabilization and water recovery from solid waste. Atwater served in the United States Marine Corps (1963–1967) prior to attending the University of Utah (1968–