"When I add up the live weights, exclusive of roots, estimated by soil biologists, I find more living biomass below the ground than above it, amounting to the equivalent of 12 horses per acre. The soil organisms consume oxygen from the soil air and give off carbon dioxide, and the summation of the multitudes of respirations characterizes the metabolism of a soil individual. Hence I designate soil as a living system."
---(Hans Jenny, "My friend, the Soil", Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 1984, p. 160)

Research Grants:
Investigator: David G. Hopkins
Support: 1999-2000
Project/Proposal Title: "Verifying the cyclic nature of soil erosion in the North Dakota Sandhills using radiocarbon dating"
Source of Support: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies
Location of the Project: Ransom County, ND

Investigator: David G. Hopkins
Support: 1999-2000
Project/Proposal Title: "Geochemical evaluation of the Dahlen and Hansboro Formations in Cavalier
County, North Dakota"
Source of Support: NDSU Research and Consulting Committee
Location of the Project: Cavalier and Towner Counties, ND

Investigator: David G. Hopkins
Support: 2000-2002
Project/Proposal Title: "Identification of water-restrictive soil horizons on the Luverne end moraine:
eastern North Dakota"
Source of Support: NDSU EPSCoR IIP Seed Grant.
Location of the Project: Barnes county, ND

Investigator: Dr. David G. Hopkins (Co-PI with D.W. Franzen, M. Khan)
Support: Current
Project/Proposal Title: Investigation and possible management of linear regions of poor sugarbeet yields in the Red River Valley
Source of Support: Sugarbeet Research and Education Board of Minnesota and North Dakota
Location of the Project: Clay County, MN and Richland County, ND

Investigator: Dr. David G. Hopkins (Co-PI with M. J. Carena)
Support: Current
Project/Proposal Title: Characterization of the "alkali problem" and identification of
tolerant corn in salt-affected soils of the Red River Valley
Source of Support: North Dakota State Board of Agricultural research and Education
Location of the Project: Richland County, ND

Investigator: Dr. David G. Hopkins
Support: Current
Project/Proposal Title: "Evaluation of organic carbon on disturbed lands of the Nature Conservancy Glacial Ridge project area"
Source of Support: Red River Basin Institute/Tri-College University.
Location of the Project: Polk County, MN

Publications:

• Hopkins, D. G. 1983. Field Review Rag (humor). Soil Survey Horizons 24(3):39-40.
• Hopkins, D. G., J. L. Richardson, and M. D. Sweeney. 1987. Composition Comparisons in Sodic Map Unit Delineations on the Dickinson Experiment Station Ranch Headquarters, North Dakota. Soil Survey Horizons 28(2):46-50.
• Hopkins, D. G., and M. D. Sweeney. 1987. Soil survey of the organized irrigation districts of McHenry County, North Dakota. North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, Fargo, North Dakota.
• Michlovic, M. G., D. G. Hopkins, and J. L. Richardson. 1988. An interdisciplinary procedure for the identification and analysis of archaeological sites in sedimentary contexts. Soil Survey Horizons 29(1):3-9.
• Hopkins, D. G., M. D. Sweeney, D. R. Kirby, and J. L. Richardson. 1989. Effects of revegetation on surficial soil salinity in panspot soils. Journal of Range Management 44(3):215-220.
• Claypool, D., D. G. Hopkins, and J. L. Richardson. 1990. Soil morphology and stratigraphy on a lower erosional footslope: Dickinson Experiment Station, Western North Dakota. Soil Survey Horizons
• 31:9-13.
• Hopkins, D. G., M. D. Sweeney, and J. L. Richardson. 1991. Dispersive erosion and entisol-panspot genesis in sodium-affected landscapes. Soil Science Society of America Journal 55(1):171-177.
• Wibawa, W. D., D. L. Dludlu, L. J. Swenson, D. G. Hopkins, and W. C. Dahnke. 1993. Variable fertilizer application based on yield goal and soil map unit. Journal of Production Agriculture
• 6:255-261.
• Hopkins, D. G., and J. L. Richardson. 1999. Detecting a salinity plume in an unconfined sandy aquifer and assessing secondary soil salinization using electromagnetic induction techniques. Geohydrology Journal 7(4):380-392.
• Hopkins, D. G., and G. L. Running. 2000. Soils, dunes, and prairie vegetation: lessons from the Sandhills of North Dakota. Prairie Forum 25(1):45-64.
• Norvell, W. A., J. Wu, D. G. Hopkins, and R. M. Welch. 2000. Association of cadmium in durum wheat grain with soil chloride and chelate-extractable soil cadmium. Soil Science Society of America Journal 64:2162-2168.
• Wu, J. W. A. Norvell, D. G. Hopkins, and R. M. Welch. 2002. Spatial variability of grain cadmium and soil characteristics in a durum wheat field. Soil Science Society of America Journal 66:268-275.
• Franzen, D. W., D. G. Hopkins, M. D. Sweeney, M. K. Ulmer, and A. D. Halvorson. 2002. Evaluation of Soil Survey Scale for Zone Development of Site-Specific Nitrogen Management. Agronomy Journal. 94:381-389.

Book chapters:

• Hopkins, D. G., and G. L. Running. 2000. Soils, dunes, and prairie vegetation: lessons from the Sandhills of North Dakota. Chapter 3, p. 39-57. In T. Radenbaugh and P. Douaud, (ed.) Changing prairie landscapes. Canadian Plains Research Center, CPP 32. Univ. of Regina. Saskatchewan.

Reports and Papers:

• Hopkins, D. G., M. D. Sweeney, and K. B. Montplaisir. 1986. McHenry County soil survey digitization project. Farm Research. 43(4):34-35. North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station, Fargo, ND.
• Timpson, M. E., J. L. Arndt, and D. G. Hopkins. 1986. Pedologic study of an archaeological site in the James River Valley; Stutsman County, North Dakota. NDSU Dept. of Soil Science Res. Rpt. No. 21. Fargo, ND.
• Hopkins, D. G. 1988. Effects of revegetation and erosional dynamics on panspot genesis and distribution in western North Dakota. M.S. Thesis. North Dakota State Univ., Fargo, North Dakota.
• Artz, J. A., E. A. Hayden, C. E. Haury, J. Arndt, and D. Hopkins. 1991. Southwest pipeline archaeology: The 1987 survey and text excavation programs at prehistoric sites in Mercer and Dunn Counties, North Dakota (segments A and B2). Project Report submitted to ND State Water Commission, Bismarck, ND. 398 pp.
• Chaney, R. L., Y. M. Li, A. A. Schneiter, D. C. Green, and D. G. Hopkins. 1993. Progress in developing technologies to produce low Cd concentration in sunflower kernals. Proc. of the 15th Sunflower Research Workshop. Jan. 14-15, 1993. pp. 80-92.
• Richardson, J. L., T. A. Soukup, and D. G. Hopkins. 1996. Preliminary investigations of hydric soil hydrology and morphology in North Dakota. pp. 94-113. In Walkely, J. S., S. W. Sprecher, and W. C. Lynn (eds.) Tech. Rpt. WRP-DE-13. U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, Washington, D.C. 20314-1000.
• Hopkins, D. G. 1997. Hydrologic and abiotic constraints on soil genesis and natural vegetation patterns in the Sandhills of North Dakota. Ph.D. diss. North Dakota State University. Fargo, ND.