Professor Andy Baker | UNSW Research

My Expertise

My research focuses on caves and their stalagmites: linking climate to groundwater recharge

Keywords

groundwater

climate

Fields of Research (FoR)

Groundwater hydrology, Physical geography and environmental geoscience

SEO tags

Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Fresh, Ground and Surface Water Environments (excl. Urban and Industrial Use)

Biography

2010- Professor, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Australia
2003-2010            Reader, then Professor of Water Science, University of Birmingham, UK
1998-2003            Senior Lecturer, Physical Geography, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
1993-1998            Lecturer, Physical Geography, University of Exeter, UK

My Grants

Since 2020::

Baker, A. Caves and their...view more

My Grants

Since 2020::

Baker, A. Caves and their stalagmites: linking climate to groundwater recharge. ARC Laureate Fellowship 2024
Baker, A., Shanafield, M., Timms, W., Melo Zurita, M. and Andersen, M.S., 2022. National Groundwater Observation System (NGROS). ARC LIEF 2022
Baker, Treble P. and McDonough, L. Reconstructing Australia's fire history from cave stalagmites. Australian Research Council Discovery Project 2020.

My Qualifications

1990-1993 Bristol University, UK. PhD, entitled "Speleothem Growth Rate and Palaeoclimate"
1987-1990 Bristol University, UK. BSc (Hons) degree in Geographical Science.

My Awards

2024               Fellow, Royal Society of New South Wales
2023               Clarke Medal for Geology, Royal Society of New South Wales
2021               Fellow, American Geophysical Union
2021               Fellow, Australasian Cave and Karst Management Association
2019               Outstanding Associate Editor, Water Research.
2015               Fred L. and Frances J. Oliver Lectureship in Texas Hydrology and Water Resources.
2009               Fellowship, Institute of Advanced Studies, Durham University
2003               Philip Leverhulme Prize, Leverhulme Trust
1999               Millennium Awards Fellow, UK Millennium Commission

My Research Activities

You can read more here

My Research Supervision

Supervision keywords

groundwater hydrology

Areas of supervision

Caves and their stalagmites: linking climate to groundwater recharge

Currently supervising

Akhilesh Kumar (with Adrian Fisher, Wendy Timms)
Danyang Sun (with Martin Andersen, Liza McDonough)
Jocelyn McGrade (with Pauline Treble, Martin Andersen)
Sarata Darboe (with Andreas Hartmann, Fiona Johnson)
Hyunsoo Seo (with Ellen Corrick, Martin Andersen)
Carl Wang (with Kashif Mahmud, Ellen Corrick, Craig Roberts)
Muqing Dong (Martin Andersen lead supervisor)

My Engagement

My current media work includes ABC radio and ABC television news; specialist and popular national and regional print media, and regional radio including ABC local radio. I write for The Conversation. My The Conversation article ‘The world’s biggest source of freshwater is beneath your feet’ (published 1st March 2016) was selected in the 2016 The Conversation Yearbook for the top articles of the year. I write for popular science journals, trade journals and caving society journals and in 2025-206 I am an American Geophysical Union Distinguished Lecturer. I have a personal website at https://andy-baker.org/. My previous media and outreach includes BBC documentaries, TV news, radio and print and an interactive exhibit at a tourist cave (Stump Cross Caverns, UK) that resulted in a Millennium Awards Fellowship for the ‘project which contributed to [awardees] personal skills and development and made a real and lasting difference to the lives in their community’.

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