Joe Baker

Joseph Thomas Baker (19 June 1932 – 16 January 2018) was an Australian marine scientist and rugby league footballer.

Academic career Born and raised in Warwick, Queensland, Baker moved to Brisbane in 1950 to commence studies at the University of Queensland and to take up a cadetship with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.

Baker achieved a Bachelor of Science, majoring in organic chemistry before continuing on to study for his master's degree. In 1956, he was appointed a demonstrator at the University of Queensland's chemistry department.

Throughout his career, Baker served terms as Chief Scientist with the Department of Primary Industries & Fisheries, chairman of the Australian Heritage Commission and Commissioner for the Environment in the ACT. Baker was also a founder of the Queensland Academy of Sport.

During this time, he also played for Brisbane in the inter-city competition, the Bulimba Cup.

In 1989 he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (FTSE).

He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to environmental research.

In 2001, Baker was named as a Queensland Great at the inaugural Queensland Greats Awards.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2002 "for service to marine science, to the development of commercially viable and environmentally sustainable aquaculture industries, to environmental research and protection, and to the progress of ecologically sustainable development in Australia and internationally".

The sports science laboratory at the Queensland Academy of Sport was named in Baker's honour in 2010.

James Cook University honoured Baker in 2011 by naming its playing field at its Townsville campus Joe Baker Field.

In 2019 a reef in the Great Barrier Reef was named as Joe Baker Reef. Located beytween Olympic and Cockatoo Reefs, it is reef 20-374 at 20.800°S 151.157°E and is approximately 17Km x 12Km. It contains one of the few blue holes in the Great Barrier Reef.