Cameron Baker

Following an interest in nature and biology, Cameron completed a BSc with Honours in ecology at the University of Queensland, where he is now a PhD candidate. Cameron’s honours year explored how ontogenetic shifts in the body size of female estuarine crocodiles Crocodylus porosus influenced their nesting behaviours and movements. Cameron has also previously assisted with other research investigating the social systems of lizards and examining potential mitigation strategies to assist in protecting sea turtle nests from predation.
Research interests
His research focus is primarily on the factors forming and influencing the social dynamics of populations and the development of novel approaches and techniques for examining animal sociality. To do this, he takes an integrative approach combining analyses and techniques from multiple disciplines to leverage unique insights into the sociality and ecology of my study species. For his PhD, Cameron is taking an integrative approach combining techniques from both movement ecology and socioecology to quantify the sociality of estuarine crocodiles Crocodylus porosus, across three different structural levels: spatial structure, social structure, and within dyad relationships. In doing so, he will be able to examine intraspecific variation in the sociality of this non-group living ‘solitary’ species.
Awards and achievements
Best student presentation – Mixed taxa, 9th World Congress of Herpetology: 2020
Student registration and travel grant, World Congress of Herpetology: 2020
Research Training Program Stipend, Australian Government: 2018 – current
Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence: 2016
Presentations
Baker, C.J., Dwyer, R.G., Frère, C. and Franklin, C. E. (2020), Quantifying the social landscape of estuarine crocodiles. 9thWorld Congress of Herpetology, Dunedin, New Zealand
Baker, C.J., Dwyer, R.G. and Franklin, C. E. (2018), Exploring the social and mating systems of estuarine crocodiles Crocodylus porosus. Joint meeting of the Australian Society of Herpetologists and the Society for Research on Amphibians and Reptiles in New Zealand, Kindilan, Australia
Baker, C.J., Franklin, C.E., Campbell, H.A., Irwin, T.A., and Dwyer, R.G. (2018), Biotelemetry reveals ontogenetic shifts in the nesting behaviour of female crocodiles. Ecological Society of Australia annual conference, Brisbane, Australia
Society affiliations
- International society of behavioural ecologists
- Ecological society of Australia
- Australian Society of Herpetologists
- University of Queensland Herpetological society – President
Personal interests
Wildlife photography, hiking, mountain biking
Links
Researchgate - https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Cameron_Baker
Google scholar - https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=-mZxSmMAAAAJ&hl=en
Twitter @Cameron_J_Baker