Seine Eltern waren John and Sophia Jukes. Er besuchte die Schulen in Wolverhampton bei Birmingham und studierte dann Geologie bei Professor Adam Sedgwick am St. John College in Cambridge. 1836 graduierte er und wurde Travelling Lecturer. Von 1839 bis 1840 war er mit der geologischen Erforschung Neufundlands betraut (auf der HMS Fly unter Kommando von Francis Price Blackwood) und wurde danach Direktor der irischen Abteilung des Geological Survey of Great Britain. 1842–46 war er in Australien.
Der Mount Jukes auf Tasmanien ist nach ihm benannt.
Excursions In and About Newfoundland, During the Years 1839 and 1840. John Murray, London 1842 Digitalisat
Narrative of the surveying voyage of H.M.S. Fly, commander by Captain F.P. Blackwood, R.N. in Torres Strait, New Guinea, and other islands of the eastern archipelago, during the years 1842-46. T. & W. Boone, London 1847 Band 2 Digitalisat
A sketch of the physical structure of Australia, so far as it is at present known. T. & W. Boone, London 1850 Digitalisat
Joseph Beete Jukes, Edward Forbes, Baron Lyon Playfair Playfair, Warington Wilkinson Smyth, John Percy, Robert Hunt: Lectures on gold for the instruction of emigrants about to proceed to Australia. David Bogue, London 1852 Digitalisat
Geology of the South Staffordshire Coal-field; 1853
Popular physical geology. Reeve and Co., London 1853 Digitalisat
The student's manual of geology. Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh 1857 Digitalisat; New Edition 1862 Digitalisat; 3. Aufl. Hrsg. von Archibald Geikie. Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh 1872.[1]
The South Staffordshire coal-field. 2. Aufl. Longman, Green, Longman and Roberts, London 1859 Digitalisat
On the lower palæozoic rocks of the south-east of Ireland, and their associated igneous rocks. M. H. Gill, Dublin 1859
The school manual of geology. Adam and Charles Black, Edinburgh 1863 Digitalisat
Letters and extracts from the addresses an occsional writings of J. Beete Jukes, edited with connecting memorial notes by his sister. Chapman and Hall, London 1871 Digitalisat
Robert A. Bayliss: The Travels of Joseph Beete Jukes, F.R.S.; In Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London; März 1978
Robert Cuff, Derek Wilton: Jukes' Excursions. Cuff Publications, St. John’s, Nfld. 1993