JANINE BAKER
Expert identifier
Janine Baker has worked in South Australian marine research for more than 30 years. She is a valued contributor towards documenting species richness and biodiversity of the Great Southern Reef, and is a leading expert in the identification of species in this region.
Janine’s favourite part of the GSR is South Australia, not only because it is her home and her long term place of ocean work and education, but also due to SA's highly varied oceanography, diversity of habitats and amazing species richness.
Imagery for impact
Motivated to visually document the spectacular and ever-changing nature of marine life around South Australia’s bays and headlands, Janine values marine imagery as much as science as a means of communication about the oceans.
Marine guru
Over her career, Janine’s other work has included mathematical modelling of fisheries stocks, marine species conservation assessments, marine biogeographical surveys of South Australian sea floor cover, field projects on native and introduced marine invertebrates, and marine parks research.
On top of all this Janine has been influential in marine education, and has delivered marine presentations and workshops to many schools and community venues across SA. She has also written various guide books and chapters on the marine fauna and flora of South Australia as well as curated a number of public art exhibitions to showcase the incredible marine life of the GSR through the work of local artists.
Citizen science
Janine manages citizen science programs that encourage people to find and photograph marine species, and share their results via citizen science portals such as iNaturalist.
Seen a seadragon?
Janine has worked extensively on the Dragon Search program (see the project on iNaturalist), analysing and mapping community sighting data of seadragons, and reporting results for several States.
Through the work that Janine and her colleagues have done to ID of individuals using facial and body markers, the global state of knowledge about leafy seadragons has been improved. This includes information on longevity, site association over long periods, seasonal movements (including exact distance travelled in some cases), behaviour, courtship, gestation and birthing.
They have even tracked some individuals for at least 8 years!
“I have seen significant changes in SA's marine environment over 35 years. Some of what is taken for granted may not persist in a rapidly changing ocean environment, at least not at former levels of abundance.”
Uncovering the new and unobtrusive
Janine hopes people will learn more about the lesser known species in our ocean, and appreciate them. Like the well camouflaged, the small, the unobtrusive, the "ugly". These have important ecological roles that are often overlooked, in favour of the few iconic species that dominate ocean media.
A new species?
Janine and colleagues have found numerous undescribed species over the past decade, including some “new” / never-seen-before marine invertebrates, recorded during citizen science reef projects.
Pictured here is potential new species of micro-asteriid (related to world's smallest sea star).
Both taxonomists who described the world's smallest sea star from Victoria agree that this one Janine found on a metro reef in SA is related, and likely a new species. It will go to Colombia for expert examination when a government permit comes through.
“There is so much more still to be discovered and protected, whilst simultaneously trying to conserve known species and habitats.”
Sea Slug Search
In 2015, Marine Janine devised the Neville Coleman Memorial Nudibranch Event - a citizen science “search and shoot: sea slug photography event for divers and snorkellers and rock pool ramblers.
The event runs each year in South Australia. Prizes are awarded for winning entries in the photo competition, awards event slideshows and exhibitions are held, and illustrated results of the sea slug finds are available in public documents.
Learn about more passionate photographers and artists inspired by the Great Southern Reef.
