Welcome! I’m Dr. Izzy Baker.

I am a geobiologist and postdoctoral fellow based out of Johns Hopkins University.

I study how life and Earth interact, focusing on the co-evolution of microbes and the chemistry of our oceans, and what that means for habitability here and elsewhere, past and present.

Research

My research largely centers around microbial interactions with one of Earth’s most abundant and biologically important elements—iron. The amount and availability of iron has changed dramatically over Earth history, and with it, so have the biological mechanisms to transform iron for energy and nutrition. In my research, I use the interactions between biology and iron as a model for the broader co-evolution of life and our planet. In studying the evolutionary responses to environmental fluxes on short-term and geologic timescales, my goal is to not only yield insight into the rich history of life on Earth, but also to inform forecasts about biological responses to continuing global change.

Publications

For the most up-to-date list of our papers, please check out Google Scholar.

The Baker Lab is committed to Open Science. Please reach out to Dr. Baker if you need assistance accessing any of the publications linked on the right side of this page.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

Moore, K.*, Baker, I.*, Hibner, B., DiRuggiero, J., Larson, J., Trower, E., and Gomes, M. (2026), Subaerial exposure and UV radiation stress drive the formation of pustular microbial mat morphologies: Implications for the rock record, JGR Biogeosciences. [Link] *co-first authors

Keller, K., Kopf, S., McFarlin, Maloney, A., Rhim, J., Elling, F., J., Ashing-Giwa, K., Baker, I., Calhoun, A., and Pearson, A. (2025), Compound-specific carbon and hydrogen isotope analysis traces archaeal lipid signatures in cold seep marine systems, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. [Link]

Baker, I., Colston, S., Hervey, W., Eddie, B., and Bird, L. (2025), Complete genome of a fluorescent Pseudomonas sp. isolated from a PFAS groundwater treatment site, Microbiology Resource Announcements. [Link]

Keller, K., Baum, M., Liu, X.L., Ashing-Giwa, K., Baker, I., Blewett, J., and Pearson, A. (2025), Constraining the sources of archaeal tetraether lipids in multiple cold seep provinces of the Cascadia Margin, Organic Geochemistry. [Link]

Baker, I. and Girguis, P. (2024), Sulfur cycling likely obscures dynamic biologically-driven iron redox cycling in contemporary methane seep environments, Environmental Microbiology Reports. [Link]

Baker, I., Matzen, S., Schuler, C., Toner, B., and Girguis, P. (2023), Aerobic iron-oxidizing bacteria secrete metabolites that markedly impede abiotic iron oxidation, PNAS Nexus. [Link]

Baker, I., Colston, S., Hervey, W., and Bird, L. (2023), Complete Genome of a Novel Serratia Species Isolated from PFAS-Impacted Soil, Microbiology Resource Announcements. [Link]

Baker, I., Conley, B., Gralnick, J., and Girguis, P. (2022), Evidence for Horizontal and Vertical Transmission of Mtr-Mediated Extracellular Electron Transfer among the Bacteria, mBio. [Link][NSF Public Affairs press release]

Datta, R., Ling, J., Kurland, J., Ren, X., Zhe, X., Yucel, G., Moore, J., Shokri, L., Baker, I., Bishop, T., et al. (2018), A feed-forward relay integrates the regulatory activities of Bicoid and Orthodenticle via sequential binding to suboptimal sites, Genes & Development. [Link]

Academic Publications

Baker, I. (2022), Adaptations to Life on an Oxidizing Planet–insights from the evolutionary ecophysiology of iron-respiring bacteria, Harvard University, Doctoral Dissertation. [Link]

Baker, I. (2016), The embryo as a learning machine: DNA sequence-based rules for anterior-posterior boundary formation in Drosophila, New York University, Masters Thesis.

Fun Science Writing

Baker, I. (2019), Searching in the Darkness, Scientists Shed Light on Oceans Beyond Earth, Science in the News. [Link]

Baker, I. (2018), The Tiny Extremists in Deep Sea Mud, R/V Falkor Cruise Blog. [Link]

About Izzy

I received my PhD from the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, doing scientific research under the guidance of Professor Peter Girguis.

Shortly thereafter, I accepted a role as a federal Research Biologist in the Center for Bio/Molecular Science and Engineering at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where I worked on efforts related to bioremediation and bioelectricity.

I’ve since moved on to the Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, where I am an Agouron Postdoctoral Fellow working in Professor Maya Gomes’ Comparative Geobiology Laboratory. I also work on an Air Force-funded project with Professor Jocelyne DiRuggiero in the Hopkins Biology Department.

You can find my CV here.