The Last Giant of Beringia, new book about UAF professor

Submitted by LJ Evans
Phone: (907) 474-7778
06/14/04

A new book highlights the life and accomplishments of a former University of Alaska Fairbanks professor whose research changed all the textbooks. The Last Giant of Beringia: The Mystery of the Bering Land Bridge, by Dan O’Neill and published by Westview Press, is a biography of the late scientist David M. Hopkins. Hopkins became the world’s foremost authority on the Bering Land Bridge during a long and productive career with the U.S. Geological Survey, then as distinguished professor of quaternary studies and director of the Alaska Quaternary Center at UAF.

Hopkins was one of the pioneers of interdisciplinary studies in Alaska. He joined the USGS in 1948, where he is best known for his contributions to the geology of the Seward Peninsula and the paleoecology of the Bering land bridge region. Hopkins edited two seminal Beringia volumes (1966 and 1982) and was instrumental in forging some of the earliest American-Russian joint research efforts focusing on trans-Beringian issues. He retired from the USGS in 1984 and began a second career of teaching and research with the Department of Geology & Geophysics and the Alaska Quaternary Center at UAF. Hopkins received an honorary doctor of science degree from UAF in 2000. He died in 2001 at the age of 79.

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More information on The Last Giant of Beringia: The Mystery of the Bering Land Bridge can be found at www.firecrackerboys.com.