Dr. Hopper was born and raised in northern New York and aspired to be a veterinarian from a young age. She volunteered at the Watertown Zoo for two years, and then went on to work at Old McDonald’s Children Farm in Sackets Harbor, NY throughout high school. In 2001 she left the northern New York area to complete an associates degree in animal science at SUNY Cobleskill .  She then transferred to Cornell University to complete two more years of animal science for a bachelor’s degree in 2003. After taking a year off from school to work at veterinary hospitals in the Syracuse area, Dr. Hopper was accepted at Cornell University Veterinary School in 2004 and completed her degree in 2008. Dr. Hopper’s special interests in the veterinary field include pain management and imaging.