He holds a Ph.D. in Curriculum, Teaching and Educational Policy with cognates in Science Education, Teacher Education, and Disciplinary Knowledge from Michigan State University. The over-riding theme of Dr. Rop’s professional work is exploring ways to construct learning experiences that engage the passions and perceptions of learners in ways that transform their views of the world and their relationships to it. In his research in science education he is working to discover ways that thoughtful engagement with the natural world can enable teachers and prospective teachers to catch a vision for authentic inquiry and discovery in science. Melding qualitative and quantitative methodologies, he is looking at how these new experiences might influence their presentation of science in their classrooms.