[1] He completed his PhD at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in 1995 and began working with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization.
[2] During his time in Australia, Coops developed satellite and airborne remote sensing technologies to aid in forest management and conservation activities.
[3] Coops left his native Australia in 2004 to become a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair at the University of British Columbia's Department of Forest Resources Management.
[4] In this role, he undertakes a range of research projects which apply remote sensing data to forest growth and biodiversity issues.
[8] Nationally, in 2022 Coops was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada for being "a global leader in the application of remote sensing technology for the management and monitoring of forest ecosystems.