Elaine Baker

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Elaine Baker
Born
Melbourne Victoria
Occupation(s)Geomorphologist, Former director of the University of Sydney Marine Studies Institute (2015-2020)
Known forUNESCO Chair in Marine Science at the University of Sydney

Elaine Baker holds the UNESCO Chair in Marine Science at the University of Sydney. She was the Director of the University of Sydney Marine Studies Institute from 2015 to 2020 [1] Her position is supported by GRID-Arendal, a centre collaborating with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Contents

Early life and education

Elaine was born in Melbourne Victoria and attended MLC Hawthorn and Clyde Woodend . [2] She holds a BSc (Hons) ] [3] and a PhD from the University of Sydney, [4] where she has been employed for more than 30 years. [2]

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's (UNEP) Continental Shelf Programme, (CSP) that resulted from United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The aim of the CSP is to assist developing countries and smaller island nations in securing their rights to extended territorial limits under the third UNCLOS convention. In order to claim extended continental shelf 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. [5] Her work is widely recognized in Australasia and the Pacific Islands. [6]

She has developed research related to waste including a review of marine litter in the UN Global Environment's GEO6 report [7] and contributed to the Overall Guidance Document on the Environmentally Sound Management of Household Waste. [8] 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". [9]

Selected works

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References

  1. ↑ "Marine Studies Institute". The University of Sydney. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 "Elaine Baker | GRID-Arendal". www.grida.no. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  3. ↑ Baker, Elaine E. (1984), The geology of part of the tertiary sequence of the Port Campbell embayment, Otway Basin, Victoria , retrieved 31 March 2021
  4. ↑ Baker, Elaine K. (1999), Sedimentology and the impact of mining in a tidally dominated delta : Fly River, Papua New Guinea, University of Sydney, retrieved 31 March 2021
  5. ↑ GRID-Arendal (28 April 2014), GRID-Arendal – A Centre Collaborating with UN Environment , retrieved 29 March 2021
  6. ↑ "The Shelf Programme: A Decade of Successfully Helping to Secure the Maritime Rights of Developing Coastal States | GRID-Arendal". www.grida.no. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  7. ↑ Programme, United Nations Environment (2 April 2019). "Global Environment Outlook – GEO-6: Healthy Planet, Healthy People". UN Environment Document Repository.
  8. ↑ "Overall Guidance Document". Basel.int. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  9. ↑ "Experts call for independent body to oversee new standard to prevent dam collapses at mines". the Guardian. 5 August 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  10. ↑ Programme, United Nations Environment (2019). "Oceans and Coastal Policy – Global Environment Outlook (GEO-6): Healthy Planet, Healthy People Chapter 14". UN Environment Document Repository.
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