Lawrence A. Baker, Research Professor
Ecological Engineering Group
Dept. Bioproducts and Biosystems Engingeering
The broad goal of my research and consulting is to develop novel approaches for reducing pollution that are more effective, cheaper and fairer than conventional approaches. Much of his research in the past 10 years has focused on urban ecosystems, often focusing on mass flow analysis of nutrients, salts, and water at scales from households to urban and agricultural regions. In recent years, particularly, my research has become highly interdisciplinary. I’ve collaborated with chemists, engineers, planners, social psychologists, terrestrial and aquatic ecologists, soil scientists, geographers, and others, learning a bit about each field along the way, with great pleasure.
At the point of having crossed the line of writing 100 technical articles ca. 2005, I realized that for my work to become useful in practice, I would have to communicate more directly with the public. Since then, I’ve written about two dozen columns and articles for public audiences and professional magazines. I’m a strong proponent of the idea that academics have an obligation to communicate with the public; hiding in the ivory tower, the fashion of the past 50 years, has not served the public well. Many of these are listed (and accessible) on my Public Writing page (under construction)
In citizen roles, I’ve also served as chair of an award-winning citizen watershed group, Friends of the Sunrise River from 2008-2010 and served on the Citizens League Water Policy Study Committee. These connections have helped make me more aware of how science and policy are connected, or, more commonly, not. This experience has made me interested in the development of “translational research” that would better connect academics with practitioners in the realm of urban sustainability. You can see how we are doing this through our Twin Cities Urban Sustainability Forum (see menu at right).
For more information, see the pages below:
Baker Vita-current-short format
The Water Environment of Cities (edited book)