She has a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Physical Geography from University of Ghent (Belgium).
[2] She was Regional Coordinator of Early Warning and Assessment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Previous academic appointments include Head of Discipline and Professor of Geospatial Systems and Environmental Management at the School of Natural and Built Environments of the University of South Australia and Professor of Spatial Sciences at the Western Australian School of Mines, Curtin University of Technology.
[3] Metternicht has served on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification's Science-Policy Interface.
[5] Metternicht has produced international outstanding research on the use of spatial information for land degradation and agriculture-related applications.