Current Research

• Interactions of genetically modified plants with soils, specifically the decomposition of residues from plants with modifications to lignin biosynthesis and Bt modified plants in soils.
• Functional soil ecology and nutrient dynamics in the soils of the Antarctic dry valleys, especially understanding the sources of organic carbon for the heterotrophic soil organisms in the extremely resource-poor and environmentally harsh polar deserts, the transfer of resources from the aquatic to the terrestrial environments in Antarctica, the diversity of the microbial communities in Antarctic soils and the responses of Antarctic ecosystems to environmental change.
• Recycling of residues from soil micro-organisms.
• Community development and land use on young volcanic soils.

Research History

• Director of Science Planning at SCRI (2006 - present).
• Professor of Environmental Biogeochemistry at the University of Stirling (1999-2006) – research on soil biology research group, including four years as the Head of the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, five summer field seasons in the Antarctic dry valleys with the New Zealand Antarctic and the US Antarctic Research Programmes, OECD Postdoctoral Fellow at Agriculture Canada in Ottawa, Erskine Visiting Fellow and appointment as Adjunct Professor (Antarctic Studies) at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), and holder of a Royal Society of Edinburgh Research Fellowship.
• Lecturer and Senior Lecturer at the University of Dundee (1990-1999) – research on soil biochemistry and microbiology, including a period as an Erskine Visiting Fellow at the University of Canterbury (New Zealand).
• Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1988-1990) – investigating soil microbiology.

Recent Publications

• Hopkins, D.W., Badalucco, L., English. L.C., Meli, S.M., Chudek, J.A. and Ioppolo, A. 2006. Plant litter decomposition and microbial characteristics in volcanic soils (Mt Etna, Sicily) at different stages of development. Biology and Fertility of Soils 43, 461-469. (doi:10.1007/s00374-006-0124-3)
• Hopkins, D.W., Sparrow, A.D., Novis, P.M., Gregorich, E.G., Elberling, B. and Greenfield, L.G.  Controls on the distribution of productivity and organic resources in Antarctic dry valley soils. Submitted to Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B – Biological Sciences 273, 2687-2695. (doi:10.1098/rspb.2006.3595)
• Barrett, J.E., Virginia, R.A., Hopkins, D.W., Aislabie, J., Bargagli, R., Bockheim, J.G., Campbell, I.R., Lyons, W.B., Moorhead, D.L., Nkem, J., Sletton, R.S., Steltzer, H., Wall, D.H. and Wallenstein, M. 2006. Terrestrial ecosystem processes of Victoria Land, Antarctica. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 3019-3034.
• Gregorich, E.G., Rochette, P., Hopkins, D.W., McKim, U.F. and St-Georges, P. 2006. Tillage-induced environmental conditions and substrate limitation determine biogenic gas production. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 2614-2628. (doi:10.1016/j.soilbio.2006.03.017)
• Hopkins, D.W., Sparrow, A.D., Elberling, B. Gregorich, E.G., Novis, P., Greenfield, L.G. and Tilston, E.L. 2006. Carbon, nitrogen and temperature controls on microbial activity in soils from an Antarctic dry valley. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 3130-3140.
• Gregorich, E.G., Hopkins, D.W., Elberling, B., Novis, P., Greenfield, L.G., Sparrow, A.D. and Rochette, P. 2006. Emission of CO₂, CH₄ adn N₂O from lakeshore soils in an Antarctic dry valley. Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 3120-3129.
• Elberling, B., Gregorich, E.G., Hopkins, D.W., Sparrow, A.D., Novis, P. and Greenfield, L.G. 2006. Distribution and dynamics of soil organic matter in an Antarctic dry valley.  Soil Biology and Biochemistry 38, 3095-3106.
• Hopkins, D.W., Webster, Tilston, E.L. and Halpin, C. 2006. Influence of available substrates on the decomposition in soil of plant materials with genetic modifications to lignin biosynthesis. European Journal of Soil Science 57, 495-503.
• Malosso, E., Waite, I.S., English, L.C., Hopkins, D.W. and O’Donnell, A.G. 2006. Fungal diversity in Antarctic soils determined using a combination of culture isolation, molecular fingerprinting and cloning techniques. Polar Biology 29, 552-561. (doi:10.1007/s00300-005-0088-z)
• Malosso, E., English, L.C., Hopkins, D.W. and O’Donnell, A.G. 2005. Community level physiological profile response to plant residue additions in Antarctic soils. Biology and Fertility of Soils 42, 60-65. (doi:10.1007/s00374-005-0861-8)
• Bardgett, R.D., Usher, M.B. and Hopkins, D.W. (editors). 2005. Biodiversity and Function in Soils. British Ecological Society Ecological Reviews. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.
• Hopkins, D.W. and Gregorich, E.G. 2005. Decomposition of transgenic (Bt) corn (Zea mays L.) residues in soil. Canadian Journal of Soil Science 85, 19-26.

Posters

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Attachment	Size
Mitigating and adapting to climate change: Research at SCRI for northern Britain	560.65 KB
Viruses in Soil	494.3 KB
Adaptation of cropping systems in northern latitudes to environmental change: consequences for food security	1.67 MB
Farming on the edge of the Atlantic	1.24 MB
Resilience of a calcerous sandy soil to amendment with organic and synthetic fertiliser
Virus-like particles from Antarctic dry valley soil	915.72 KB
Gelifluction of soil on the Antarctic Peninsula	3.68 MB
Distribution of soil carbon and microbial biomass under different tillage regimes	415.41 KB
Distribution of soil microbial biomass and activity along a latitudinal gradient on the Antarctic peninsula	2 MB
Sources and characteristics of water repellency in machair soil	242.38 KB