From 1940 to 1945 he was a research chemist and assistant plant physiologist at Hosa (Cancer) Research Laboratories, London. After the war, he was appointed Lecturer from 1945 to 1954 at the
University of Leeds. From 1954 to 1957, was Senior Lecturer and Professor at
University College of the Gold Coast, Ghana, where he did significant work on bat pollination and began a life-long interest in tropical biology. In 1948, he spent one year as a visiting researcher at the Carnegie Institute of Washington, closely working with the all-star group of plant biologists, which included
Jens Clausen,
David Keck, and
William Hiesey. Both Bakers then moved to the United States, taking positions at the
University of California, Berkeley, where he filled the position that had been recently vacated by
Thomas Goodspeed. Baker was the Director of the University of California Botanical Garden from 1957 to 1969, and the Associate Director from 1969 to 1974. He remained at Berkeley for the remainder of his career, where he was Associate Professor, 1957-60, and Professor from 1960. He was a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award at Berkeley in 1971, and upon retirement, in 1990, received the Berkeley Citation, awarded to those whose contributions to the University go "beyond the call of duty, and whose achievements exceed the standards of excellence in their fields." Baker was instrumental in establishing the
Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) and lead one of its early courses in 1968, Reproductive Biology in Tropical Plant Ecology. Based in Costa Rica, OTS has greatly influenced research in tropical botany. Its broader mission is centered on provision of leadership in education, research, and the responsible use of natural resources in the tropics. The genus
Bakerolimon (
Plumbaginaceae) was named for Herbert Baker by the Russian botanist
Igor Lintchevski in 1968.
G. Ledyard Stebbins named "Baker's law" after Baker, for solidifying the scientific consensus around the observation that uniparentally reproducing species capable of self-fertilization (those that are neither dioecious or self-incompatible) possess a greater ability to establish following long-distance dispersal or in similar colonization contexts. Baker published over 175 research articles and supervised 49 Ph.D. students. He received numerous awards during his long and distinguished career. He was a member of both the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984) and the
American Philosophical Society (1986). == Publications ==