About

Bridget Baker is a professor associated with the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida, specializing in comparative, diagnostic, and population medicine within the marine animal health field. Her work involves responding to distressed, injured, or deceased marine mammals and sea turtles along Florida’s Nature Coast through the UF Marine Animal Rescue (UFMAR) program. Her responsibilities include overseeing marine animal stranding responses, conducting necropsies to determine causes of death, and supporting research efforts aimed at understanding marine species health and environmental impacts. She plays a key role in promoting awareness, education, and understanding of marine animal and environmental health, contributing to the interconnected health benefits of marine species, people, and the environment, consistent with the One Health approach.

Research topics

• Environmental health
• Ecology
• Biology
• Medicine
• Environmental planning
• Physiology
• Environmental science
• Engineering
• Environmental protection
• Zoology
• Genetics
• Toxicology

Selected publications

• Developmental exposure to 1,4-dioxane, a volatile organic compound of emerging concern, induces immediate phenotypic, transcriptomic, and adult-onset neurodevelopmental effects

  Toxicological Sciences · 2025-05-01 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  1,4-Dioxane, a synthetic volatile organic compound (VOC), has been found in products including paints, cosmetics, and pesticides as well as food products and drinking water. Contamination in groundwater poses significant environmental and public health risks due to its high mobility and widespread human exposure through vapor intrusion and multiroute exposure pathways. Adverse health effects have been observed as a result of exposure to this compound; however, there is little research on the developmental and reproductive effects. Controlled VOC exposures [0.004, 0.40, and 40 parts per million (ppm)] of zebrafish embryos were conducted in sealed glass vials over a developmental period (120 h). Endpoints evaluated were mortality, abnormalities, larval behavior, transcriptomics, and adult-onset effects. The behavior of zebrafish larvae was significantly altered for the 40 ppm group. Expression of key genes (insig1, tbc1d10aa) was observed immediately following exposure and some persisted into adulthood. The top dysregulated diseases and disorders pathways in every concentration were cancer, organismal injury and abnormality, endocrine system disorders, gastrointestinal disease, and neurological disorders. Pathways of note enriched in larval and adult tissues include endocrine gland tumorigenesis, insulin resistance, movement disorders, cell survival, and cellular homeostasis. Specific reproductive pathways included pelvic, genital, uterine, and mammary tumors and carcinomas, however, there was no significant effect on adult zebrafish fertility. This study moves the field forward by integrating a novel zebrafish model and lifespan approach, shedding new light on understudied implications of low-level VOC exposure, ultimately informing public health policies to mitigate the risks associated with this ubiquitous environmental contaminant.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Facts about Wildlife Diseases: Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD)

  EDIS · 2025-03-21 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  This article is intended to summarize for the general public, and particularly hunters, farmed cervid owners, and landowners, what is currently known about chronic wasting disease (CWD) and its impacts, with information about practices to minimize spread of the disease, as well as safely handle and test deer.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Datos sobre las enfermedades de la fauna salvaje: Caquexia Crónica (CWD)

  EDIS · 2025-08-12

  articleOpen access

  Este artículo está dirigido al público, en particular a cazadores, propietarios de ciervos en cautiverio y dueños de tierras. Su propósito es resumir lo que se sabe actualmente sobre la enfermedad de caquexia crónica (o desgaste crónico --CWD, por sus siglas en inglés) y sus impactos, además de brindar información sobre prácticas para minimizar la propagación de la enfermedad, así como sobre el manejo seguro y las pruebas en ciervos.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Developmental exposure to ethylbenzene: Elucidating the effects of volatile organic compounds on phenotypic and transcriptomic endpoints using zebrafish (Danio rerio)

  Journal of Hazardous Materials · 2025-11-26 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Electrocution (avian) case definition for wildlife

  Techniques and methods · 2024-01-01

  articleOpen access

  First posted March 15, 2024 For additional information, contact: Director, National Wildlife Health CenterU.S. Geological Survey6006 Schroeder RoadMadison, WI 53711Contact Pubs Warehouse Diagnostic laboratories receive carcasses and samples for diagnostic evaluation and pathogen/toxin detection. Case definitions bring clarity and consistency to the evaluation process. Their use within and between organizations allows more uniform reporting of diseases and etiologic agents.The intent of a case definition is to provide scientifically based criteria for determining (a) if an individual carcass has a specific disease and degree of confidence in that diagnosis and (b) if there is evidence of a pathogen or toxin in a carcass or sample (for example, swab, tissue sample, skin scraping, blood/serum sample, environmental sample, or other). This case definition is specific to electrocution and applies to all avian species.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Identification and quantification of novel per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination in a Great Lakes urban-dominated watershed

  The Science of The Total Environment · 2024-05-24 · 16 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Adult-Onset Transcriptomic Effects of Developmental Exposure to Benzene in Zebrafish (Danio rerio): Evaluating a Volatile Organic Compound of Concern

  International Journal of Molecular Sciences · 2023-11-11 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  Urban environments are afflicted by mixtures of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOC sources that drive human exposure include vehicle exhaust, industrial emissions, and oil spillage. The highly volatile VOC benzene has been linked to adverse health outcomes. However, few studies have focused on the later-in-life effects of low-level benzene exposure during the susceptible window of early development. Transcriptomic responses during embryogenesis have potential long-term consequences at levels equal to or lower than 1 ppm, therefore justifying the analysis of adult zebrafish that were exposed during early development. Previously, we identified transcriptomic alteration following controlled VOC exposures to 0.1 or 1 ppm benzene during the first five days of embryogenesis using a zebrafish model. In this study, we evaluated the adult-onset transcriptomic responses to this low-level benzene embryogenesis exposure (n = 20/treatment). We identified key genes, including col1a2 and evi5b, that were differentially expressed in adult zebrafish in both concentrations. Some DEGs overlapped at the larval and adult stages, specifically nfkbiaa, mecr, and reep1. The observed transcriptomic results suggest dose- and sex-dependent changes, with the highest impact of benzene exposure to be on cancer outcomes, endocrine system disorders, reproductive success, neurodevelopment, neurological disease, and associated pathways. Due to molecular pathways being highly conserved between zebrafish and mammals, developmentally exposed adult zebrafish transcriptomics is an important endpoint for providing insight into the long term-effects of VOCs on human health and disease.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Nonlethal detection of PFAS bioaccumulation and biomagnification within fishes in an urban- and wastewater-dominant Great Lakes watershed

  Environmental Pollution · 2023-01-18 · 44 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Facts about Wildlife Diseases: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI)

  EDIS · 2023-02-09 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Avian influenza is a highly contagious respiratory virus that circulates globally among wild birds. As of July 2022, H5N1 has spread quickly in the United States, killing wild birds in more than 40 states and impacting more than 60 species. While lethal to many bird and some mammal species, the current circulating strain is not particularly infectious in humans. Nonetheless, basic precautions are still warranted, particularly for those people in contact with wild birds via hunting or the use of backyard bird feeders or baths, as well as people with backyard poultry or pet birds. These basic precautions are detailed.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Developmental Phenotypic and Transcriptomic Effects of Exposure to Nanomolar Levels of 4-Nonylphenol, Triclosan, and Triclocarban in Zebrafish (Danio rerio)

  Toxics · 2022-01-24 · 15 citations

  articleOpen access

  Triclosan, triclocarban and 4-nonylphenol are all chemicals of emerging concern found in a wide variety of consumer products that have exhibited a wide range of endocrine-disrupting effects and are present in increasing amounts in groundwater worldwide. Results of the present study indicate that exposure to these chemicals at critical developmental periods, whether long-term or short-term in duration, leads to significant mortality, morphologic, behavioral and transcriptomic effects in zebrafish (Danio rerio). These effects range from total mortality with either long- or short-term exposure at 100 and 1000 nM of triclosan, to abnormalities in uninflated swim bladder seen with long-term exposure to triclocarban and short-term exposure to 4-nonylphenol, and cardiac edema seen with short-term 4-nonylphenol exposure. Additionally, a significant number of genes involved in neurological and cardiovascular development were differentially expressed after the exposures, as well as lipid metabolism genes and metabolic pathways after exposure to each chemical. Such changes in behavior, gene expression, and pathway abnormalities caused by these three known endocrine disruptors have the potential to impact not only the local ecosystem, but human health as well.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Tony L. Goldberg

  University of Wisconsin Health

  70 shared

• Kathy Toohey-Kurth

  University of California, Davis

  68 shared

• Megan A. Finley

  Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

  67 shared

• W Thiel

  University of Wisconsin–Madison

  66 shared

• David Giehtbrock

  Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

  65 shared

• Tracie R. Baker

  Wayne State University

  37 shared

• Danielle Meyer

  University of Florida

  24 shared

• Camille Akemann

  Wayne State University

  19 shared