[1] Her research has also uncovered connections between radio-frequency emissions from circular structures surrounding galaxies, shocked gasses near the galactic centers, and galactic starbursts,[2] and she has also published about gender bias in science.

[3] She is the inaugural chair of the Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of California, San Diego.

[1][4] Her dissertation, The middle-aged universe: Results from high-z supernovae and the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey, was supervised by Marc Davis.

She became dean for equity, diversity, and inclusion in the university's School of Physical Sciences in 2018.

[1] In 2025, Coil was named as a Fellow of the American Astronomical Society, "for original and creative contributions to our understanding of the evolution of galaxies and the formation and evolution of supermassive black holes; for uncovering the large-scale structure of galaxies in the distant universe; and for inspirational mentorship of the next generation of astrophysicists".