My Expertise
My research focuses on the intersection between geology and water, 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
Keywords
Fields of Research (FoR)
Groundwater hydrology, Quaternary environments, Physical geography and environmental geoscience, Isotope geochemistry, Organic geochemistrySEO tags
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
Baker, A. Caves and their stalagmites:...view more
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
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. Project webpage
Hartmann, A., Andreo, B., Baker, A., Gleeson, T., Gutierrez, H., Kunstmann, H., Rosolem, R., Wada, Y., Wagener, T. and Zehe, E. Global Assessment of Water Stress in Karst Regions in a Changing World. German Research Foundation (DFG) 2017.
Baker, A, O'Carroll, D, Andersen, M. and Meredith, K. Groundwater organic matter: carbon source or sink? Australian Research Council Discovery Project 2016
Baker, A, Meredith, K, Pigois, J, Norman, M., Post, V and Shortland-Jones, H. Unlocking the secrets of the groundwater cycle using Si and Li isotopes. Australian Research Council Linkage Project 2015
Baker, A, Turney, C, Cartwright, I, Schulmeister, J, Larsen, J, Jenkins, K, Pickford, R, Timms, W. A coupled high temperature elemental analyser - gas chromatograph - mass spectrometer for climate, water and ecological research. ARC LIEF 2014
Baker, A, Meehan, S, Treble, P, Andersen, M, Fairchild, I, Spate, A, Tozer, M and Baker A. To what extent does fire affect karst processes? Burning questions for fire management. ARC Linkage Round 2013
Baker, A., Khan, S.J., Blyth, A.J., Source – receptor analysis of lignin phenols and microbial tetraether membrane lipids in karst to quantify stalagmite biomarker proxies of vegetation and temperature change. Australian Research Council Discovery Project, 2011-2014.
Baker, A., Drysdale, R. Frisia, S., Treble, P, Acworth, I., Hua, Q., Herries, A, Meissner, K., and Fink, D. ‘A mass spectrometer to analyse carbonate isotope records of Australia's climate, soil and groundwater history’. Australian Research Council LIEF 2011.
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
My research focuses on the intersection between geology and water, 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 270 internationally refereed papers in high citation-rate journals including Nature, Science, Nature Communications and Nature Geoscience. pdfs of my papers can be found at my personal webpage. I have been awarded, and have successfully managed over 75 successful research grant applications. I was awarded a Millennium Awards Fellowship in 1999, 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, and in 2024 of the Royal Society of New South Wales. I was awarded the Clarke Medal for Geology by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 2022. My H index is between 73 (Scopus) and 88 (Google Scholar).
My Research Supervision
Supervision keywords
Areas of supervision
PhD positions available
The Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship ‘Caves and their stalagmites: linking climate to groundwater recharge’ awarded to Andy Baker (UNSW Sydney, Australia) has opportunities for PhD projects in the following areas. Positions are for start in 2025 or 2026 and will remain open until filled.
PhD 1 Using long-term cave hydrological monitoring to quantify rainfall recharge thresholds and climate drivers.
PhD 2 Upscaling recharge from the scale of drips to whole caves using lidar mapping (collaboration with Kashif Mahmud, Midwestern State University, USA)
PhD 3 Groundwater recharge modelling to investigate future relationships between climate and environmental change and groundwater recharge) (collaboration with Andreas Hartmann, TU Dresden, Germany)
PhD 4 Climate, recharge, and groundwater sustainability (collaboration with Gabriel Rau, University of Newcastle)
PhD 5 Climate, recharge, and groundwater policy (collaboration with Marilu Melo Zurita and Cameron Holley, UNSW)
PhD 6 High resolution stalagmite records of groundwater recharge over at least the past 500 years) (collaboration with Pauline Treble, ANSTO)
PhD 7 Climate model simulations to investigate the climate processes that lead to relationships between climate state, rainfall intensity, and groundwater recharge (collaboration with Andrea Taschetto, UNSW)
Positions 1 to 5 come with stipends with top-up (total: $39,880 pa) funded from the Fellowship Project. They are open to Domestic and International Students, however International applicants will have to apply for or have a Tuition Fee Scholarship.
Positions 6 to 7 will require both applicants to have their own funding, or to apply for a UNSW scholarship to cover living costs and fees. For more information: https://www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr/scholarships
For general information on how to apply, including language requirements, costs and timeline, see: https://www.unsw.edu.au/research/hdr/application
For more information, interested applicants should contact Andy Baker (a.baker@unsw.edu.au), stating which PhD position they are interested in and providing a copy of their cv.
Currently supervising
Alkhilesh Kumar
Danyang Sun
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 and the WaterUnderground blog hosted by the European Geosciences Union and the American Geophysical Union. My The Conversation article ‘The world’s biggest source of freshwater is beneath your feet’ (published 1st March 2016) was one of most highly circulated on social media and 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 give invited classes in local schools. I provide training on request to staff employed at tourist caves across NSW and inter-state, focusing on the latest developments in cave science. 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’.
My Teaching
GEOS2291 Earth's Systems and Sustainability (where I teach surface and groundwater geochemistry, water quality and groundwater recharge).
GEOS1211 Earth & Environmental Science (course coordinator).
Publications
ORCID as entered in ROS
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1552-6166