After completing her Ph.D., Dr. Kopp accepted a post-doctoral researcher position at the University of Tennessee. In 2003, a year into her post-doc, she was hired as an assistant professor at Utah Valley State College. She taught general biology, plant physiology, and plant pathology. Dr. Kopp also worked to increase biology education beyond the university. In 2005, in partnership with the Dolan DNA Learning Center at the Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory, she organized a Plant Molecular Genetics and Bioinformatics workshop for high school and junior college educators. She organized similar workshops in 2006 and 2007.

In 2007, Dr. Kopp joined Michigan State University as an Invited Research Professor for a Cholorplast project. In 2008, Utah Valley State College became Utah Valley University (UVU). Dr. Kopp received the Outstanding Educator of the Year Award from UVU in 2008, and in 2009, she was promoted to associate professor. In 2015, she received the UVU Department of Biology Outstanding Faculty Award.

In 2016, Dr. Kopp was named Senior Fellow of The Higher Education Academy, recognizing her research and teaching work supporting higher education. She also received the College of Science and Health Dean’s Award of Excellence for Scholarship in 2016. Further recognizing Dr. Kopp’s significant contribution to biology research, she became a full professor in 2017. In 2018, Dr. Kopp was voted Outstanding Educator of the Year by UVU graduates.

Dr. Kopp speaks at plant biology and biotechnology conferences across the globe. She is passionate about teaching and supporting student learning. In a paper she published about course-based research experience, she states, “Students love the opportunity to participate in a project that produces results that the community at large can use. Students working in groups become very engaged in the troubleshooting process and learn important critical thinking skills. Students also love the opportunity to add this experience to their resume” (Shaffer et al., 2014).