Faculty bio | UO Vertebrate Paleontology Lab | 541-346-5976

Samantha Hopkins is an academic expert in mass extinction, paleontology, climate change and evolution. Samantha studies the evolution of ecology in mammals, primarily fossil mammals. She is also interested in the role climate change and geologic activity play in mammal evolution. Samantha can talk about the deep time history of climate change on earth, evidence for evolution, conservation biology, and the future of life on earth in the context of human activity.

Recent Media:
They uncover new fossils, but they also bite (The New York Times, July 1, 2022)
Climate-driven extinction made mammals' teeth less weird (Wired, Nov. 2, 2021)
Dinosaur Discoveries Are Booming (Scientific American, February 2021)
Researcher helps fill in the family tree of the shy mountain beaver (Around the O, Jan. 8, 2020)
Mammals’ weird way of swallowing is at least 165 million years old (PBS NOVA, July 18, 2019)
Ancient 'Hyena-Pig' Discovered To Have Once Roamed Oregon (Oregon Public Broadcasting, July 11, 2019)
UO scientists uncover a rare Oregon dinosaur fossil (Around the O, Nov. 5, 2018)
Which animals have barely evolved? (National Geographic, Nov. 14, 2015)
Mini Beavers once roamed Oregon (Smithsonian, June 5, 2015)
Most of human history, being an omnivore was no dilemma (National Public Radio, April 20, 2012)