[3] She was educated at Telopea Park High School,[4] winning a Commonwealth scholarship in November 1965 for her final two years.
[7] She then won a CSIRO scholarship[4] and went to Vancouver, Canada where she completed a PhD in Zoology at the University of British Columbia[8] with her thesis, "A further investigation of the homing behaviour of the intertidal cottid, Oligocottus maculosus Girard".
[9] After her PhD, Craik returned to Canberra and joined the Department of the Environment and was sent to the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) as part of her public service traineeship.
[3][6] In 1995 she changed career direction, left Queensland and was appointed executive director of the National Farmers' Federation (NFF), replacing Rick Farley in the role.
[1] In 2000 she left the NFF to lead Earth Sanctuaries Limited in Adelaide and also became chair of the Australian Fisheries Management Authority the same year[1] and given a second three-year term in 2003.