RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Climate change
• Trace gas exchange
• Biosphere-atmosphere interactions
• Use of isotopes in ecosystem research
• Land use
• Effects of environment on human health
• Use of science in policy making

EDUCATION

University of California, Berkeley, 2005

B.S. in Environmental Sciences, emphasis in Physical Science, awarded Departmental Citation.

B.A. in Spanish, emphasis in Latin American Literatures.

Senior Research Thesis: “Human Influence on the Carbon Cycle of Secondary Tropical Forests: Effects of Temperature and Nitrogen on CO2 Respiration from Soils”

Sponsored by Margaret Torn, Center for Isotope Geochemistry, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Whendee Silver, Ecosystem Sciences Division, UC Berkeley

Presented at the American Geophysical Union annual meeting, December 2004

Pontificia Universidad Catolica, Santiago, Chile, Study Abroad, January-December 2003.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Post-Baccalaureate Fellow, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, 2005 - present

• Soil trace gas flux measurements
• Vacuum line purification of CO2 for 14C analysis of microbial biomass samples
• Elemental analysis of soil and vegetation samples

Student Research Assistant, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Summer 2005

• Performed techniques of soil biogeochemistry; sample collection, preparation, and analysis for elemental and isotopic composition
• Coordinated work activities, such as planning dates of equipment use, ordering supplies, and maintaining lab space clean and free of isotopic contamination

Research Assistant, Department of Integrated Biology, University of California, Berkeley,                                                             July-August 2005

• Assisted in data collection on a tropical forest dynamics project lead by a UC Berkeley Ph.D. student in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Contributing Writer,The Daily Californian, Berkeley, CA,   January 2001-March 2005

• Researched and reported local and campus news stories
• Focused on science and environmental issues

Bilingual Interviewer, Childhood Leukemia Study, University of California, Berkeley,                                                                            January 2004-June 2005

• Conducted telephone interviews in Spanish and English of study participants to determine effects of environment on childhood leukemia

Policy Analyst Intern, Climate Change Program, California Energy Commission,                                                                                           Summer 2002

• Followed and reported on international, national, and local level global warming policy and scientific advances
• Created press package and public relations materials on the passage of California State Assembly Bill 1493, landmark global warming legislation
• Compiled and synthesized existing record of all climate change related actions by state agencies as background materials for the governor’s office

AWARDS

Undergraduate Research Fellow, Berkeley Atmospheric Sciences Center, 2004

Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow, UC Berkeley, 2004

Undergraduate Travel Grant, College of Letters and Science, 2004

Alumni Leadership Scholar, UC Berkeley Alumni Association, 2002

SBC Scholar, SBC Foundation, 2000-2004

Francesca Hopkins
Post-Baccalaureate Fellow

Geochemistry Department

Phone: 510-495-2226
Fax: 510-486-5496
Email: fmhopkins@lbl.gov