Matt Hopkins grew up in Manchester Maine before attending the Universtiy of Southern Maine, graduating with a double major in Economics and English in 2005. In the Fall of 2008, he joined the RESD department of the University of Massachusetts Lowell, graduating with a Masters in the Economic and Social Development of Regions, graduating in 2010. He was graduate student of the year in Spring 2010, and a Poet opener for Jericho Brown's reading that same year. He continues to study economic development and policy issues, and wrote his thesis on the progress and impact of wind projects appearing in the New England region. He continues to work on the formation and development of the early wind industry in the U.S. and word.