Tracie Baker
| Tracie Baker | |
|---|---|
| Born | Tracie R. Baker |
| 🏫 Education | Cleveland State University (BS) University of Alaska Fairbanks (MS) University of Wisconsin–Madison (DVM, PhD) |
| 💼 Occupation | Environmental toxicologist, veterinarian, professor |
| 👔 Employer | University of Florida |
| Known for | Zebrafish studies of transgenerational dioxin toxicity; research on contaminants of emerging concern in the Detroit River; lead scientist of the 2022 Willoughby Expedition |
Tracie R. Baker is an American environmental toxicologist and veterinarian. She is a professor in the Department of Environmental and Global Health at the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions, where she directs the Warrior Aquatic, Translational, and Environmental Research (WATER) Laboratory.[1] Her research uses the zebrafish as a model to study how early-life exposure to environmental contaminants affects health in later life and in later generations, and she has studied pollutants in the Detroit River and the Florida Everglades.[2][3] In 2022 she was the lead scientist of the Willoughby Expedition, a canoe crossing of the Everglades that collected water samples along a route first traveled in 1897.[4]
Early life and education
Baker grew up in Ohio near Lake Erie and attended Cleveland State University on a Division I swimming scholarship.[3] She received a dual bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry from Cleveland State and a master's degree in marine biology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, where her research focused on toxins produced by harmful algal blooms.[2] She then earned a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, focusing on fish and aquatic animals, followed by a PhD in molecular and environmental toxicology at the same university under Richard Peterson.[2] The University of Florida lists her DVM as completed in 2008 and her PhD in 2013.[1]
Career
While working in Peterson's laboratory, Baker received a Special Emphasis Research Career Award (K01) from the National Institutes of Health, a mentored award that supports veterinarians in becoming independent biomedical investigators.[2] In 2016 she joined Wayne State University in Detroit as a faculty member and established the WATER Laboratory.[2][3] At Wayne State she received R01 funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to study epigenetic mechanisms by which endocrine-disrupting chemicals cause transgenerational effects, with a focus on male infertility.[2]
In 2021 Baker accepted a tenured associate professor position at the University of Florida.[2] As of 2026, the university lists her as a professor in the Department of Environmental and Global Health.[1] She has also held an affiliate appointment at Wayne State University.[5]
Research
Transgenerational effects of dioxin
Baker's doctoral and early postdoctoral work used zebrafish to study 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). In a 2014 study, juvenile zebrafish briefly exposed to a low concentration of TCDD showed toxic effects only in adulthood, and their unexposed descendants in the next two generations showed skewed sex ratios, skeletal abnormalities, and reduced reproductive success; the authors concluded that the fish showed transgenerational responses in generations never directly exposed to the chemical.[6] According to the National Institutes of Health, she was the first researcher to use the zebrafish model to investigate transgenerational toxicity, and she found that the reduced fertility seen across generations was mediated through the male germline.[2]
Contaminants in the Detroit River
After moving to Detroit, Baker's laboratory sampled surface water and sediment at sites in the Lake Huron to Lake Erie corridor, including the Detroit River and Lake St. Clair, in 2018 and 2019.[5][3] The resulting study, published in the Journal of Great Lakes Research in 2022 and led by Baker, screened for more than 150 chemicals of emerging concern and detected 50 compounds, with artificial sweeteners making up the largest share of the cumulative concentration, followed by pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and stimulants.[5] Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were found in surface water at five of the six sites sampled and in sediment, with the mouth of the Rouge River having the largest number of PFAS compounds detected; none of the water concentrations was high enough to trigger state or federal cleanup action.[7] Baker described the PFAS findings as the most concerning because the chemicals persist in sediment, from which they can redistribute into the water.[7] Speaking about the study, she said that many wastewater treatment plants were not designed to remove pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants, and that federal regulators should set limits on categories of chemicals considered hazardous.[5]
Willoughby Expedition
In late October and early November 2022, Baker served as lead scientist of the 2022 Willoughby Expedition, which retraced by canoe the roughly 130-mile coast-to-coast route through the Everglades that the explorer Hugh de Laussat Willoughby completed in 1897.[4][8] The expedition began at the Harney River on the Gulf coast, ended in Miami on November 2, and commemorated the 75th anniversary of Everglades National Park.[4] Baker collected water samples to assess the chemistry of Everglades water and to test for modern pollutants including microplastics, PFAS, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals, as well as antibiotic-resistance genes and environmental DNA.[4][8] Soundings reported that by completing the crossing she became the first non-Indigenous woman to cross the Everglades.[4]
Public outreach
In 2019 Baker gave a TED talk on her research into environmental contaminants and their consequences.[3]
Personal life
Baker is an open-water swimmer and triathlete. In August 2025 she swam the final leg of the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial Swim, a 411-mile relay marking the 50th anniversary of the shipwreck, from the St. Clair River at Algonac to Belle Isle in Detroit.[9]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Tracie R Baker". College of Public Health and Health Professions. University of Florida. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Profile of a Promising Environmental Health Scholar: Tracie Baker, D.V.M., Ph.D." Office of Research Infrastructure Programs. National Institutes of Health. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Blakely, Natasha (December 27, 2019). "On the Subject of Fish: How do contaminants affect zebrafish and how does that translate to humans?". Great Lakes Now. Archived from the original on August 10, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Goldberg, Lidia (November 8, 2022). "Explorers Complete 130-Mile Trek Across the Everglades". Soundings. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Gittleman, Stacy (July 25, 2023). "Pharmaceuticals in our water an emerging concern". Downtown Newsmagazine. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ Baker, Tracie R.; Peterson, Richard E.; Heideman, Warren (2014). "Using Zebrafish as a Model System for Studying the Transgenerational Effects of Dioxin". Toxicological Sciences. 138 (2): 403–411. doi:10.1093/toxsci/kfu006. PMC 3975160. PMID 24470537. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Thompson, Carol (March 29, 2022). "Researchers thought they knew how PFAS get into the Great Lakes. Then they made a discovery". Phys.org. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Dooley, Karen (March 21, 2023). "UF water scientist becomes first nonindigenous woman to cross the Florida Everglades". UF News. University of Florida. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
- ↑ "Research, personal history motivates faculty member's Great Lakes swim". College of Public Health and Health Professions. University of Florida. September 23, 2025. Retrieved November 9, 2026.
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