Andy Hopkins is the Forage Grass Breeder of the Forage Improvement Division. He received his BS degree in Agronomy from the University of Missouri - Columbia in 1987, and his MS (1989) and PhD (1993) degrees in Agronomy from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. After a post-doc at Oklahoma State University involving switchgrass breeding, Hopkins joined the Noble Foundation as the first member of the FBG in April, 1997.

The breeding program of the Forage Improvement Division is focused on development of cool season perennial grass varieties, and research supporting such efforts. Specific projects include germplasm collection, evaluation, and enhancement; recurrent selection; endophyte screening and evaluation; variety testing; and seed production research.