Elaine Baker holds the UNESCO Chair in Marine Science at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

. She was the Director of the University of Sydney Marine Studies Institute from 2015 to 2020 Her position is supported by GRID-Arendal, a centre collaborating with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Early life and education

Elaine was born in Melbourne Victoria and attended MLC Hawthorn and Clyde Woodend . She holds a BSc (Hons) ] and a PhD from the University of Sydney, where she has been employed for more than 30 years.

Career and impact

Elaine has worked at the University of Sydney since 1987. She has been involved in numerous high profile international projects including

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on th ...

's (UNEP) ''Continental Shelf Programme'', (CSP) that resulted from

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea Treaty, is an international agreement that establishes a legal framework for all marine and maritime activities. , 167 c ...

(UNCLOS). The aim of the CSP is to assist

developing countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

and smaller

island nation An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...

s in securing their rights to extended territorial limits under the third UNCLOS convention. In order to claim extended

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...

limits, states need to collect and provide extensive technical geographical data. Under the programme, GRID (Global Resource Information Database) centers provide technical and expert support to these states in collecting the geospatial, marine geophysical and geological data needed for submissions under UNCLOS. The GRID-Arendal center coordinates the CSP globally. Her work is widely recognized in

Australasia Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...

and the

Pacific Islands Collectively called the Pacific Islands, the islands in the Pacific Ocean are further categorized into three major island groups: Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. Depending on the context, the term ''Pacific Islands'' may refer to one of se ...

. She has developed research related to waste including a review of marine litter in the UN Global Environment's GEO6 report and contributed to the Overall Guidance Document on the Environmentally Sound Management of Household Waste. Baker has spoken out in relation to the need to create an independent international body to supervise the construction of dams in mines. She supports an independent body to monitor the benchmark, rather than the industry, as "there has been a history of catastrophic dam failures in countries where mine governance is quite good, including Australia".

Selected works

* Mangalagiu, D., Baker, E., Fidelman, P., Gonçalves, L. R., Harris, P., Hollway, J., ... & Rice, J. (2019). Oceans and Coastal Policy-Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6): Healthy Planet, Healthy People Chapter 14. ''Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6''''): Healthy Planet, Healthy People''.
Global Linkages - A graphic look at the changing Arctic
* Crump, J., Jacob, K., King, P., Mangalagiu, D., Abiodun, B. J., Armiento, G., ... & Wright, C. Y. (2019)
Systemic Policy Approaches for Cross-cutting Issues.
* Gupta, J., Hurley, F., Grobicki, A., Keating, T., Stoett, P., Baker, E., ... & Ekins, P. (2019)
Communicating the health of the planet and its links to human health
''The Lancet Planetary Health'', ''3''(5), e204-e206. * Johansen, K. S., Alfthan, B., Baker, E., Hesping, M., Schoolmeester, T., & Verbist, K. (2019)
''El Atlas de Glaciares y Aguas Andinos: el impacto del retroceso de los glaciares sobre los recursos hídricos''.
UNESCO Publishing.

References

External links

Elaine Baker at LinkedIn
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Elaine Living people Year of birth missing (living people) La Trobe University alumni University of Sydney alumni Academic staff of the University of Sydney Australian geomorphologists