Author Archive

Virginia Tech’s newly installed president, Dr. Timothy Sands, along with Vice Provost, Dr. Jack Finney, visited the College of Natural Resources today. While touring Latham Hall with the CNRE Dean, Dr. Paul Winistorfer, they stopped by the Hopkins’ Lab to get a brief overview of the wildlife ecotoxicology research program. On hand to greet him were students Cathy Jachowski, Arden Blumenthal, Sydney Hope, Michelle Beck and Valentina Alaasam.

Welcome to Virginia Tech, Dr. Sands!

The Virginia Science Festival in Blacksburg: October 4, 2014

Last weekend, the Virginia Science Festival featured a host of interactive science activities, exhibits and programs across Virginia Tech’s campus. Members of the Hopkins Lab participated in this outreach event by hosting two wildlife stations near the Moss Arts Center.

“One of our stations was called, “Life of Birds: Form and Function”. We had kids build their own ...

Sarah Budischak successfully defended her dissertation at the University of Georgia this summer. Her dissertation was titled: Causes and consequences of coinfection: insights from community ecology.

Sarah found that nematode parasites can influence condition, hematology, reproduction, and survival of African buffalo. Using new molecular techniques to identify worm species was critical, since the two most common species had opposing relationships with host fitness components.

Dr. Budischak has just accepted a post-doc at Princeton University.  Congratulations, Sarah!

Dr. Todd was recently promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at UC Davis in the Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology. Since starting his position there, he has grown his lab to continue pursuing ecological research relevant to wildlife conservation. He currently has students and projects focusing on recovery of the federally threatened Mojave Desert Tortoise, studying the invasion ecology and impacts of non-native watersnakes in California, and understanding host-pathogen dynamics and how they shape ...

A paper by Dr. Sarah DuRant and colleagues was recently featured on the cover of Biology Letters, a journal published by the Royal Society that features cutting-edge research and high impact articles. In this paper, the Hopkins’ lab reveals a potential hormonal mechanism that mediates parental effects in incubating birds.

Are thyroid hormones mediators of incubation temperature-induced phenotypes in birds?