{"id":5048,"date":"2016-07-06T17:54:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-07T00:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/?p=5048"},"modified":"2016-07-06T17:54:42","modified_gmt":"2016-07-07T00:54:42","slug":"hopper-william","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/2016\/07\/hopper-william\/","title":{"rendered":"William E. Hopper"},"content":{"rendered":"

From an \u201cEcologist Directory\u201d maintained by the ESA Education Office about 2004-2005. Profile circa 2004.<\/em>
\nDegree<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ph.D.
\nPosition<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor
\nDepartment<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chemistry and Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Studies
\nOrganization<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Florida Memorial University, Miami FL
\n\"william_hopper_profile\"When did you become interested in ecology?
\n<\/strong>I got interested in ecology when I was 10 years old when my parents gave me a book for Christmas about it.\u00a0 Although I went on to major in chemistry in college, it remained as an interest, but I didn\u2019t know that I could be employed in it.
\nDescribe your route to a career in (or using) ecology. What challenges did you need to overcome? What was your training, and what positions have you held?<\/strong>
\nAfter graduating with a PhD in chemistry, I took two postdoctoral fellowships in laboratories at the University of Miami\u2019s Medical School. Because other people\u2019s grants kept running out, I thought I should get a permanent job and was hired as an assistant professor of chemistry at Florida Memorial College.\u00a0 The next year I was made Chair of the Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.\u00a0 I held several other administrative positions under different administrations, but always maintained a presence in natural sciences.\u00a0 An opportunity arose from the PEJER grant to investigate the development of a major in Environmental Studies, which we pursued, and which led directly into the SEEDS program, which enabled us both to institute the new major and for me to obtain the credentials necessary to teach in environmental studies.\u00a0 Our experience with SEEDS was leveraged with the South Florida Water Management District into a contract which allowed us to open the Center for Urban Environmental Studies.
\nHow did you learn about ecological careers? \u00a0What is your position title now?<\/strong>
\nMy title now is Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Studies.\u00a0 I learned about careers in ecology from my participation in the SEEDS program, which enabled me to return to graduate school and earn a second master\u2019s degree, this one in Environmental Studies.
\nWhat key advice would you offer a student today?<\/strong>
\nKeep as many options open as possible and get outside and see what is going on there.
\nSave<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From an \u201cEcologist Directory\u201d maintained by the ESA Education Office about 2004-2005. Profile circa 2004. Degree\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ph.D. Position\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Professor Department\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Chemistry and Director of the Center for Urban Environmental Studies Organization\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Florida Memorial University, Miami FL When did you become interested in ecology? I got interested in ecology when I was 10 years old when my parents gave me a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11106,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[151,155,165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biographies","category-ecologist-directory","category-personal-accounts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/esa.org\/history\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}