2009-11-04
University of Rio Grande faculty member Rob Hopkins is having his research published in several highly-respected scientific journals, and the work he is currently doing may eventually help to slow or stop the spread of diseases that cause problems for fish and other animals.
Hopkins, who lives near Jackson, is an assistant professor of biology at Rio Grande. He has been published in seven journal articles already this year, he is working on additional articles, and he is also doing peer reviews of articles by scientists from around the world. He also has been asked to give numerous presentations on his research work, and has received several awards and honors for his research projects.
As a Rio Grande faculty member, he dedicates most of his time to teaching, and he is using his research to better help his students.
In his research, Hopkins often works on environmental science projects. One research project, for example, considered how climate changes and land use affect how different types of fish move from one area to another. One main purpose of this work, Hopkins explained, is to study how amphibious diseases spread from one body of water to another.
As part of his research work, he puts together models that can simulate how the fish move and how diseases spread.
An article that Hopkins wrote for “Landscape Ecology,” for example, looked at the “Use of landscape patterns metrics and multiple spatial scales in aquatic species distribution models.”
An article he wrote with B.M. Burr for “Ecological Modeling,” looked at “Modeling freshwater fish distributions using multiscale landscape data: A case study of six narrow range endemics.”
Another article, which he wrote with M.D. Burns, B.M. Burr and L.J. Hopman for the “Journal of the Kentucky Academy of Sciences,” is titled “Building a centralized database for Kentucky fishes: Progress and future applications.”
An additional article, which he wrote with G.E. Padgett-Flohr for “Diseases of Aquatic Organisms,” is titled “Batrachochytrum dendrobatidis, a novel pathogen approaching endemism in central California.”
For the research work for these and other articles, Hopkins has traveled to several different areas, and he also did some research in natural history museums. The research has several purposes, including looking at how to stop the spreading of some diseases that affect fish and other animals.
His articles and findings have been well-received, and Hopkins talks regularly with other experts in his field. He is also asked to peer review articles by other environmental scientists from around the country often before they are printed in the scientific journals.
In his current research projects, Hopkins is involving students at Rio Grande, in order to give them experience with this type of research. The research will be valuable to them as they advance in their academic and professional careers, and Hopkins said he is pleased with the work completed by the Rio Grande students. He also hopes to involve additional Rio Grande students in future years and continue to expand the research opportunities available to the students.
For more information on Hopkins and his research work, call him at 1-800-282-7201.
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