David Baker grew up in uptown New Orleans and went to Lusher elementary and McMain magnet High School. Baker studied botany under Dr. Bill Platt at LSU and went on to study the impacts of Hurricane Andrew on Everglades National Park and LSU’s Ben Hur Woods, a bottomland hardwood forest. While working in the park Baker learned the trade of Wild land/Prescribed firefighting. Following his time at LSU he worked at the Louisiana Nature Conservancy as the Louisiana State Land Steward, managing and burning 16 nature preserves in Louisiana. For a brief time, Baker worked for an environmental consulting firm, advising on plants used in the restoration of oil field sites in the south. In 2004 Baker began working at A Studio in the Woods, removing Chinese Privet and has worked there ever since as the residency program's Environmental Curator. While working at A Studio in the Woods Baker has installed thirty-two ten-meter by ten-meter plots for the long term study of changes in the ecosystem during the restoration process.
