Professor Coetzee has been serving as acting Head of Department from March 2018 and is the Director for the Centre for Geoinformation Science. She received her PhD (2009), MSc (1997) and BSc Hons (1990) in Computer Science from the University of Pretoria, where she also earned her HEd Diploma (1991) and BSc (1989) in Mathematics and Computer Science.

Prof Coetzee's research focuses on the ever-increasing volumes of geographic information and the challenges of making these available, accessible and usable. Over the past ten years, her collaboration with more than 50 peers from at least 20 countries resulted several peer-reviewed publications, keynote addresses and conference presentations at international events. She holds a C1 rating from the NRF and serves on the editorial boards of the Spatial Journal (Springer) and International Cartographic (Taylor and Francis). Prof Coetzee is the Chair of the International Cartographic Association’s Commission on SDI and Standards and represents the Council on Higher Education on two South African statutory bodies: the Committee for Spatial Information (CSI) and the South African Geomatics Council (SAGC).