Kristina Hopkins
Biography
Krissy Hopkins studies the impacts of urbanization on rivers and streams, focused on understanding how the intensity and type of development impacts water quality and quantity. This includes examining the impacts of different types of stormwater management strategies, both conventional and infiltration-based (i.e., green infrastructure), on watershed hydrology and nutrient fluxes. Her work also focuses on translating ecosystem functions into ecosystem services and values by applying ecosystem services approaches to floodplain systems and green stormwater infrastructure.
Krissy received an undergraduate degree in biology/environmental science and geography from Syracuse University in 2007. She completed her Ph.D. in geology at the University of Pittsburgh in 2014 and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center (SESYNC) in Annapolis, Maryland. She joined the U.S. Geological Survey in 2016 as a Research Physical Scientist.
CURRENT RESEARCH FOCUS
- Assessing water quality/quantity changes in aquatic ecosystems as watersheds undergo urban development.
- Assessing the effectiveness of stormwater management practices (conventional and green infrastructure) to reduce the water quality/quantity impacts of development. Project page HERE.
- Quantifying and valuing sediment and nutrient retention ecosystem services provided by floodplains in the Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay watersheds. Project page HERE.
EDUCATION
Ph.D. 2014, Geology and Environmental Science, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
Dissertation: From small watersheds to regions: Variation in hydrologic response to urbanization
B.S. 2007 Biology/Environmental Science (2nd Major Geography), Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2017 - Present, Research Physical Scientist, South Atlantic Water Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Raleigh, NC.
2016 - 2017, Research Physical Scientist, Eastern Geographic Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA.
2014 - 2016, Postdoctoral Fellow, National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, University of Maryland, Annapolis, MD.
PUBLICATIONS
Bradley, P.M., C.A. Journey, J.P. Berninger, D.T. Button, J.M. Clark, S.R. Corsi, L.A. DeCicco, K.G. Hopkins, B.J. Huffman, N. Nakagaki, J.E. Norman, L.H. Nowell, S.L. Qi, P.C. VanMetre, I.R. Waite, 2019. Mixed-chemical exposure and predicted effects potential in wadeable southeastern USA streams. Science of the Total Environment, 655: 70-83.
Rowley, T.H., Hopkins, K.G., and Terziotti, S., 2018, Geomorphological Features of North Carolina: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P9PRAVAQ.
Hopkins, K.G., G.B. Noe, F. Franco, E.J. Pindilli, S. Gordon, M.J. Metes, P.R. Claggett, A.C. Gellis, C.R. Hupp, D.M. Hogan. 2018. A method to quantify and value floodplain sediment and nutrient retention ecosystem services. Journal of Environmental Management, 220: 65-76.
Hopkins, K.G., N.B. Grimm, A.M. York. 2018. Influence of governance structure on green stormwater infrastructure investment. Environmental Science and Policy, 84: 124-133.
Hopkins, K.G. and D.J. Bain. 2018. Mapping spatial patterns in sewer age, material, and proximity to surface waterways to infer sewer leakage hotspots. Landscape and Urban Planning, 170: 320-324.
Jefferson, A.J., A.S. Bhaskar, K.G. Hopkins, R. Fanelli, P.M. Avellaneda, S.K. McMillan. 2017. Stormwater management network effectiveness and implications for urban watershed function: A critical review. Hydrological Processes, 31 (23): 4056-4080.
Hopkins, K.G., J.V. Loperfido, L.S. Craig, G.B. Noe, D.M. Hogan. 2017. Comparison of sediment and nutrient export and runoff characteristics from watersheds with centralized versus distributed stormwater management. Journal of Environmental Management, 203 (1): 286–298.
Sparkman, S.A., D.M. Hogan, K.G. Hopkins, J.V. Loperfido. 2017 Modeling watershed-scale impacts of stormwater managment with traditional versus low impact development design. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 53 (5): 1081-1094.
A.Y. Chan and K.G. Hopkins. 2017. Case study: Associations between socio-demographics and green infrastructure placement in Portland, Oregon. Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment. 3 (3).
Utz, R.M., K.G. Hopkins, L. Beesley, D.B. Booth, R.J. Hawley, M.E. Baker, M.C. Freeman, K.L. Jones. 2016. Ecological resistance in urban streams: the role of natural and legacy attributes. Freshwater Science, 35 (1): 380-397.
Hopkins K.G., N.B. Morse, D.J. Bain, N.D. Bettez, N.B. Grimm, J.L. Morse, M.M. Palta, W.D. Shuster, A.R. Bratt, A.K. Suchy. 2015. Assessment of variation in stream flow responses to urbanization and the persistence of physiography. Environmental Science and Technology, 49 (5): 2724-2732.
Hopkins K.G., N.B. Morse, D.J. Bain, N.D. Bettez, N.B. Grimm, J.L. Morse, M.M. Palta. 2015. Type and timing of stream flow changes in urbanizing watersheds in the Eastern U.S. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene, 3 (56): 1-14.
Hopkins, K.G., D.J. Bain, and E.M. Copeland. 2014. Reconstruction of a century of landscape modification and hydrologic change in a small urban watershed in Pittsburgh, PA. Landscape Ecology, 29 (3): 413 – 424.
D.J. Bain, E. Copeland, M. Divers, M. Hecht, K.G. Hopkins, J. Hynicka, M. Koryak, M. Kostalos, L. Brown, E. Elliott, J. Fedor, M. Gregorich, B. Porter, B. Smith, C. Tracey, M. Zak. 2014. Characterizing a Major Urban Stream Restoration Project: Nine Mile Run (Pittsburgh, PA, USA). Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 50 (6): 1608-1621.
Science and Products
SPARROW Modeling for North Carolina Watersheds
In North Carolina, excessive nutrient and sediment loadings have contributed to the degradation of surface-water quality across the state as a result of agricultural activities and population growth increases. To further understand the influences of human activities and natural processes on surface-water quality, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) developed the SPARROW (SPAtially Referenced...
Understanding the Effects of Stormwater Management Practices on Water Quality and Flow
Urban development can have detrimental impacts on streams including altering hydrology, increasing nutrient, sediment, and pollutant loadings, and degrading biological integrity. Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) can be used to mitigate the effects of urban development by retaining large volumes of stormwater runoff and treating runoff to remove pollutants. This project focuses on...
Quantifying Floodplain Ecological Processes and Ecosystem Services in the Delaware River Watershed
Floodplain and wetland areas provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining sediments, nutrients, and floodwaters. The loss of floodplain functionality due to land use conversion and degradation reduces the provisioning of these services. Assessing, quantifying, and valuing floodplain ecosystem services provide a framework to estimate how floodplain...
Mixed-chemical exposure and predicted effects potential in wadeable southeastern USA streams
Complex chemical mixtures have been widely reported in larger streams but relatively little work has been done to characterize them and assess their potential effects in headwaterstreams. In 2014, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) sampled 54 Piedmont streams over ten weeks and measured 475 unique organic compounds...
Bradley, Paul M.; Journey, Celeste A.; Berninger, Jason P.; Button, Daniel T.; Clark, Jimmy M.; Corsi, Steven R.; DeCicco, Laura A.; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Huffman, Bradley J.; Nakagaki, Naomi; Norman, Julia E.; Nowell, Lisa H.; Qi, Sharon L.; Van Metre, Peter C.; Waite, Ian R. A method to quantify and value floodplain sediment and nutrient retention ecosystem services
Floodplains provide critical ecosystem services to local and downstream communities by retaining floodwaters, sediments, and nutrients. The dynamic nature of floodplains is such that these areas can both accumulate sediment and nutrients through deposition, and export material downstream through erosion. Therefore, estimating floodplain sediment...
Hopkins, Kristina G.; Noe, Gregory B.; Franco, Fabiano; Pindilli, Emily J.; Gordon, Stephanie; Metes, Marina J.; Claggett, Peter; Gellis, Allen; Hupp, Cliff R.; Hogan, Dianna M. Influence of governance structure on green stormwater infrastructure investment
Communities are faced with the challenge of meeting regulatory requirements mandating reductions in water pollution from stormwater and combined sewer overflows (CSO). Green stormwater infrastructure and gray stormwater infrastructure are two types of water management strategies communities can use to address water pollution. In this study, we...
Hopkins, Kristina G.; Grimm, Nancy B.; York, Abigail M. Research note: Mapping spatial patterns in sewer age, material, and proximity to surface waterways to infer sewer leakage hotspots
Identifying areas where deteriorating sewer infrastructure is in close proximity to surface waterways is needed to map likely connections between sewers and streams. We present a method to estimate sewer installation year and deterioration status using historical maps of the sewer network, parcel-scale property assessment data, and pipe material....
Hopkins, Kristina G.; Bain, Daniel J. Stormwater management network effectiveness and implications for urban watershed function: A critical review
Deleterious effects of urban stormwater are widely recognized. In several countries, regulations have been put into place to improve the conditions of receiving water bodies, but planning and engineering of stormwater control is typically carried out at smaller scales. Quantifying cumulative effectiveness of many stormwater control measures on a...
Jefferson, Anne J.; Bhaskar, Aditi S.; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Fanelli, Rosemary; Avellaneda, Pedro M.; McMillan, Sara K. Modeling watershed-scale impacts of stormwater management with traditional versus low impact development design
Stormwater runoff and associated pollutants from urban areas in the greater Chesapeake Bay Watershed (CBW) impair local streams and downstream ecosystems, despite urbanized land comprising only 7% of the CBW area. More recently, stormwater best management practices (BMPs) have been implemented in a low impact development (LID) manner to treat...
Sparkman, Stephanie A.; Hogan, Dianna M.; Hopkins, Kristina G.; Loperfido, J. V. Comparison of sediment and nutrient export and runoff characteristics from watersheds with centralized versus distributed stormwater management
Stormwater control measures (SCMs) are used to retain stormwater and pollutants. SCMs have traditionally been installed in a centralized manner using detention to mitigate peak flows. Recently, distributed SCM networks that treat runoff near the source have been increasingly utilized. The aim of this study was to evaluate differences among...
Hopkins, Kristina G.; Loperfido, J.V.; Craig, Laura S.; Noe, Gregory B.; Hogan, Dianna M.
Geomorphological Features of North Carolina Dataset Released
Three statewide datasets were compiled to provide information on geomorphological features in North Carolina. Datasets include state-wide coverages of geomorphon common forms, landscape openness, and slope area index. Datasets were generated from light detection and ranging (lidar) derived digital elevation models at 10 ft. or 30 ft. resolution.