Department of Biology

Education:

• Ph.D. – 2021: University of Kansas, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Lawrence, KS
• B.S. – Indiana University, Microbiology, Bloomington, IN

Professional Experience:

• Assistant Professor, Appalachian State University, Department of Biology
• Postdoctoral Associate, Indiana University, Biology Department
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Ohio State University, Evolution, Ecology and Organismal Biology Department
• Graduate Teaching and Research Assistant, University of Kansas, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department

Areas of Interest:

• Soil Ecology
• Fire Ecology
• Evolutionary Biology
• Microbial Ecology
• Community Ecology
• Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi
• Plant – Microbe Interactions
• Biostatistics – Univariate and Multivariate

Research Statement:

I am a microbial ecologist who combines genomic, trait, functional (e.g., decomposition and symbiotic outcomes), and soil chemical approaches to identify the microbial and plant traits under selection during community assembly, and the consequences of this selection for ecosystem function and plant-microbe symbioses.  As a microbial ecologist who specializes in plant-microbe interactions, I use natural and managed systems to understand how evolutionary and community assembly processes determine microbial and plant roles in ecosystems.  I guide this work with three questions: 1) How does global change (e.g., fire, anthropogenic influence, nutrient enrichment) alter microbial and plant community assembly?  2) Do changes in microbial and plant community structure predict changes in ecosystem function? 3) Can we manipulate microbial and plant community assembly to promote ecosystem services?

Website:

https://jacobrhopkins6.wixsite.com/hopkins--above-below

Selected Publications:

• Hopkins, J.R., Vizzari, G., Bennett, A.E., Malacrinò, A. (2025). Fire limits soil microbial dispersal and differentially impacts bacterial and fungal communities. Global Change Biology: 31 (8), e70386. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.70386
• Hopkins, J., Bennett, A.E., McKenna, T.P. (2025). Fire frequency driven increases in burn heterogeneity promote microbial beta diversity: a test of the pyrodiversity-biodiversity hypothesis. Molecular Ecology: 1-13.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/mec.17756

• Hopkins, J. and Bennett, A.E. (2023).  Spore traits mediate disturbance effects on AM fungal community composition and mutualisms. Ecology: e4016.

https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ecy.4016

• Hopkins, J., Huffman, J.M, Platt, William J., Sikes, B.A. (2020). Frequent fire slows microbial decomposition of newly deposited fine fuels in a pyrophilic ecosystem. Oecologia, 193(3): 631-643.

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-020-04699-5

• Hopkins, J., Richardson S., Bever, J.D. (2023).  Spatial structure within root systems moderates stability of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal mutualism and plant-soil feedbacks. The American Naturalist, 201(2):1-15.

https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/722532