5 Questions with Rick Hopkins, Ph.D.
Rick A. Hopkins, Ph.D. is President and Senior Conservation Biologist at Live Oak Associates, Inc.
1. Tell us about your work at Live Oak Associates.
As President, I not only oversee business development and manage on-going operations for the company, but also provide senior leadership as it relates to the goals and responsivities and QA/QC for all of Live Oak Associates’ projects.
I am a broadly trained ecologist with experience with several wildlife species, and have dedicated more than 45 years to the study of large mammalian carnivores. As a nationally recognized wildlife ecologist, I have focused most of my research efforts on conservation biology; population ecology; movements of wildlife, particularly mammalian carnivores; conservation of threatened and endangered wildlife species; and the integration of robust spatial tools to focus conservation at landscape scales relevant to large carnivores (e.g., cougars).
Under my leadership, Live Oak Associates has integrated novel and robust spatial tools in the development of a multi-species Habitat Conservation Plan for the 190 km² Elk Hills Oil Field, a cougar habitat management plan for nearly 40,000 km² area of Southern California, and developing conservation strategies for utility-scale solar projects in the central to southern San Joaquin Valley and Panoche Valley. I have and do supervise interdisciplinary teams of biologists to characterize the biological setting of project sites and planning areas, determine project impacts, and develop conceptual mitigation plans consistent with the requirements of CEQA and NEPA for over 3000 projects during the last 30 years.
2. What credentials, education, and/or past experience do you possess relevant to your position?
I hold a Ph.D. in Wildlands Resource Ecology from University of California, Berkeley and an M.A. in Biology from San Jose State University. My graduate research involved a 12-year study on the spatial ecology of the cougar in the Diablo Range, above San Jose, California.
3. How long have you worked at Live Oak?
I co-founded Live Oak Associates with Dave Hartesveldt in 2000.
4. What do you enjoy about the work you do and/or working at Live Oak?
Dave and I purposefully generate a corporate culture that fosters the reliance on sound science, collaborative thinking, respect of one’s co-workers, and a friendly, congenial atmosphere. I enjoy the team atmosphere that we have built, working with like-minded people, furthering conservation while solving project issues for both private and public clients.
5. What do you enjoy doing when you are not working?
As a carnivore ecologist, I dedicate time as the current President of the Board at the non-profit Cougar Fund (www.cougarfund.org), in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I also serve on the board of the Truckee-based Conservation Science Partners (www.csp-inc.org), an applied research collective whose goals are to provide innovative analytics to solve today’s conservation questions. Additionally, I serve on the science advisor boards of Project Coyote - Marin, California, Predator Defense – Eugene, Oregon, and Humane Society of the U.S. Large Carnivore Working Group. When I am not dedicating time to these and other conservation-based organizations I love bike riding, speed skating, hiking and skiing.
Live Oak Associates provides a comprehensive range of biological consulting services to organizations throughout California. Partner with us to discover how our team can help you with your next project.