Throughout Dr. Coffman's career she has worked on planning, designing, and monitoring of riparian and wetland restoration projects. She has worked with large multi-disciplinary teams of scientist to prepare watershed assessments and management/restoration studies in coastal Southern California and the Sierra Nevada. Dr. Coffman has conducted vegetation and invasive species mapping in many habitats throughout California from site specific to watershed scale.  In addition, she has conducted biological and ecological surveys of plants, birds, benthic invertebrates, fish, and mammals throughout her 17 year career, including special status plant and animal surveys.  Dr. Coffman has conducted environmental water chemistry and sediment sampling in rivers, salt marshes, and estuaries for nine years as part of ecological research and restoration/remediation projects.  She has extensive experience in experimental and study design of ecological and restoration monitoring.  She has served on technical advisory committees and as a scientific advisor in several Southern California watersheds.

Dr. Coffman teaches courses in wetland ecology, delineation, and restoration ecology as part of the Wetland Science Series at the Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies.  In addition, she continues to conduct research in the areas of wetland and riparian restoration ecology and invasion biology for the University of California, Santa Barbara.  She works collaboratively on river assessment and restoration projects with University students and non-profit volunteers, such as California Native Plant Society.