Email address: hopkinsw@vt.edu

Dr. Hopkins' CV

About Dr. Hopkins

Dr. Hopkins’ research program at Virginia Tech focuses on physiological ecology and wildlife Ecotoxicology, addressing pressing questions in both basic and applied science.

From a basic science perspective, Dr. Hopkins is currently interested in the energy costs of various physiological and behavioral processes. He is particularly intrigued by problems that involve the interplay of different physiological systems (e.g., the endocrine and immune systems). Current work in Dr. Hopkins’ laboratory examines the bioenergetics of various processes including digesting various prey types, developing under variable incubation conditions, mounting an immune response, and enduring parasitic infections. He is also interested in maternal effects and how maternal behavioral decisions may influence a mother’s fitness and the fitness of her offspring.

From an applied perspective, Dr. Hopkins’ primary goal is to understand how anthropogenic disturbances alter the ability of fish and wildlife to interact appropriately with their environment. He is interested in the movement of contaminants through communities via trophic mechanisms, with most emphasis placed on chronic dietary uptake of bioaccumulative contaminants by high trophic level predators (e.g., birds and snakes). He focuses on sublethal endpoints of toxicity including changes in endocrine physiology, energy allocation, reproductive success, and measures of performance. He is particularly interested in maternal transfer of teratogenic compounds and resulting effects on developing offspring. In all of his studies, Dr. Hopkins is devoted to developing minimally invasive sampling techniques to estimate exposure and effects, and he has published a wide array of papers dealing with the importance of these approaches in applied ecology.

Dr. Hopkins’ previous research experience at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, Mercer University’s Medical School, Auburn University, and the University of South Carolina includes quantification of diverse physiological responses of invertebrates and vertebrates to natural and anthropogenic stressors. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife at Virginia Tech. He holds additional adjunct associate professor appointments with the University of Georgia’s Institute of Ecology and the College of Pharmacy’s Interdisciplinary Toxicology Program, as well as the University of South Carolina’s Department of Biological Sciences. To date, Dr. Hopkins has published more than 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters on subjects pertaining to environmental stress and pollution, as well as additional peer-reviewed works on the physiological ecology of amphibians, reptiles, and bats.

Dr. Hopkins serves (or previously served) on the editorial boards of two journals, as a toxicologist on the Scientific Advisory Board for the International Center for Birds of Prey, and as a member of the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Minefilling Power Plant Wastes. He has also served in advisory capacities at the local, state, national and international level on issues pertaining to waste management, ecological sustainability, and the global decline of amphibians.

Recent Publications

Budischak, S.A., Belden, L.K., and Hopkins, W.A. In press. The effects of malathion on embryonic development and latent susceptibility to trematode parasites in ranid tadpoles. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry.

Budischak, S.A., Belden, L.K., and Hopkins W.A. In press. Relative toxicity of malathion to trematode-infected and noninfected Rana palustris tadpoles. Archives of Environmental Contamination & Toxicology.

DuRant, S.E. and Hopkins, W.A. In press. Amphibian predation on larval mosquitos. Canadian Journal of Zoology.

Rowe, C.L., Heyes, A., and Hopkins, W.A. In press. Effects of dietary vanadium on growth and lipid storage in a larval anuran: Results from studies employing ad libitum and rationed feeding. Aquatic Toxicology.

Hopkins, W.A. 2008. Amphibians as models for studying environmental change. Journal of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. 48(3):270-277.