Dr Frances Hopkins

Dr Frances E Hopkins is a marine biogeochemist at PML working on the production and cycling of climatically- and atmospherically-important marine trace gases. After obtaining a First Class degree in marine biology and oceanography from Bangor University, she carried out her PhD research under the supervision of Prof. Peter Liss at the University of East Anglia. Her PhD project investigated the effects of ocean acidification (OA) on a range of key trace gases, including halocarbons and dimethyl sulfide (DMS). Frances joined PML in 2009, enabling her to continue this research through involvement in both the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA) and the UK Ocean Acidification Research Programme (UKOA).

Her research has involved regular sea-going and land-based expeditions, in locations including Norway, Italy, the eastern Atlantic, Svalbard, the NW European shelf, the Arctic Ocean and the Southern Ocean. Frances has a wide range of experience in analytical techniques for marine trace gas analysis, including gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and flame photometric detection (GC-FPD), proton transfer reaction - mass spectrometry (PTR MS), atmospheric pressure ionization - chemical ionization mass spectrometry (API CIMS).

Her recent and ongoing research includes two NERC funded projects (“Microbial degradation of DMSO in seawater” and “A multidisciplinary study of DMSP production and lysis - from enzymes to organisms to process modelling”), and two PML Research Programme projects, one investigating the role of ozone in the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) at the sea surface, and the other examining the controls on DMS production by tropical corals.

Frances has been actively involved in the establishment of the Penlee Point Atmospheric Observatory, a project which represents an expansion of the Western Channel Observatory. A range of meteorological and analytical instruments have been installed and continuously monitor a range of important compounds in the marine atmosphere.