Following an academic career at the University of Sheffield, UK, Professor Alan Baker was Professor of Botany (Ecology and Environmental Science) at the University of Melbourne from 2000 until 2008. He now resides in the UK but continues his active engagement with many research institutions around the world.

He has worked extensively in the fields of revegetation of mineral wastes and remediation of contaminated land, and his continuing long-term research passion and scientific leadership has focused on ecological and physiological aspects of heavy metal tolerance, toxicity and uptake in plants, and in particular the ecology, evolution and development of metallophyte floras. Alan is a highly published scientist and the recipient of many awards that recognise his contributions to the development of novel phytotechnologies for soil remediation and phytomining.