Andy Baker

Background

About Andy Baker

An academic of more than twenty-five years experience, having worked at the Universities of Exeter, Newcastle, Birmingham and UNSW. Holds a PhD from the University of Bristol, focused on karst hydrology, paleoclimate and isotope geochemistry. I research the water underground - from caves to aquifers. Using stalagmites I reconstruct past climates, past groundwater recharge and past fire history. I characterise organic matter in natural and human environments, from groundwater to drinking water. Common themes include an interdisciplinary scientific approach between the subject areas of Environmental Earth Science and Engineering, and the use of isotopic and geochemical techniques. I have published over 250 internationally refereed papers to high citation-rate journals including Nature, Science, Nature Communications and Nature Geoscience. I was awarded a Millennium Awards Fellowship in a Phillip Leverhulme Prize for Geography in 2003, a Durham University Institute for Advanced Studies Fellowship in 2009 and the Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources in 2015. In 2021 I was awarded Fellowships of the Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association and the American Geophysical Union. My H index is 78 (Google Scholar). Collaborates internationally, including USA, France, Spain, Ethiopia, China, Austria, Germany, and South Africa. Former Director of Research, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW; Research Centre Director, Connected Waters Initiative Research Centre, UNSW; and Research Program leader in the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training. Currently a member of the Australian Research Council College of Experts. Specialties: karst hydrogeology, speleothem science, organic matter characterisation, fluorescence spectroscopy, isotope geochemistry