Ms Marina Coetzee

Biography

Marina had accumulated 20 years of experience as a chief agricultural researcher with the Namibian Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry. As agricultural researcher she headed the Agricultural Laboratory (chemical and physical analyses of soils, plants, animal fodder and feeds, meat) and the characterisation, inventory and mapping of Namibian agriculture-related natural resources, namely soil, rangeland, agroclimate, and agro-ecological zones. She supervised and/or participated in various projects on crop yield and growth modelling, rangeland monitoring and modelling, agrometeorology and agroclimatology, evaluation and monitoring of drought, niche crops, oil crops for biofuel, quantification of land production potential, climate change adaptation, land cover mapping, vegetation mapping and erosion hazard mapping.  She and her staff developed the first Namibian Agricultural Resources Information System (NARIS) and MAWRD Geographical Information System.

Marina joined the Polytechnic of Namibia, now the Namibia University of Science and Technology, in 2010. She has taught a variety of courses (see below), coordinated students’ work-integrated learning, supervised students’ research projects and participated in curriculum development and review. At present, she is a senior lecturer and coordinator of the Department of Architecture and Spatial Planning’s post-graduate spatial planning programmes. Marina has been serving on numerous national committees and project steering committees, contributed to development and review of sectoral and strategic plans, national development plans, national policies and legislation. She had represented Namibia at international forums such as the Conference of Parties (COP) of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). She had been a technical advisor to the President of the UNCCD-COP11 and the first African Drought Conference.

Research Focus Areas

• Soil characterisation, classification, traditional and digital mapping
• Soil information systems
• Soil organic matter
• Agro-ecological zoning
• Climate change
• SCIONA project

Courses Currently Teaching

Undergraduate

• Natural Resource Management; Integrated Environmental Management
• Rural Land Use Planning
• Geodemographics
• Ecology
• Sustainable Settlement Planning
• Geographical Information Systems
• Climate Change (modules)
• Soil Science (modules)

Postgraduate

• Environmental Issues in Regional & Rural Development
• Rural Development Practice

Community Development Activities

• Active member of the National Climate Change Committee and its subcommittees.

Selected Publications

Thesis

• Coetzee, M.E. (2009). Chemical characterisation of the soils of east-central Namibia. (Unpublished M.Sc. Thesis). Stellenbosch University. Available from http://scholar.sun.ac. za/handle/10019.1/4068.

Book Chapters

• Nguno A.K., Coetzee M.E., Sheehama A. and Hipangelwa, N. (2011). Status report on biofuels in Namibia. In I. Mapaure, B.J. Mhango, & D.K. Mulenga Eds., Mitigation and adaptation strategies to climate change. Windhoek, Namibia: RAEIN-Africa Secretariat.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2004). In: JN de Klerk. Bush encroachment in Namibia: Report on phase 1 of the bush encroachment research, monitoring and management project. pp 92-131. Windhoek, 2004.
• FAO. (1999). The Future of our land: Facing the challenge. Guidelines for integrated planning for sustainable management of land resources. Edited by A. Kutter and C. Neely. FAO/UNEP. Rome. [M. Coetzee is listed as a contributing author.]

International peer-reviewed articles

• Buenemann, M., Coetzee, M. E., Kutuahupira, J., Maynard, J. J., & Herrick, J. E. (2023). Errors in soil maps: The need for better on-site estimates and soil map predictions. PLOS ONE, 18(1), e0270176. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/authors?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0270176.
[Accepted by the Journal of Central European Green Innovation, but not yet published:
• Coetzee, M. E. A Tale of Freshwater Scarcity: Water Resources of Namibia
• Coetzee, M. E. Living with Freshwater Scarcity: Management of Namibia’s Water Resources.]
• Herrick J. E., A. Beh, E. Barrios, I. Bouvier, M. Coetzee, D. Dent, … N. P. Webb. (2016). The Land-Potential Knowledge System (LandPKS): mobile apps and collaboration for optimizing climate change investments. Ecosystem Health and Sustainability. 2(3):e01209. doi: 10.1002/ehs2.1209
• Coetzee, M., Kinyaga, V., Kruger, B., Seely, M. & Werner, W. (2014). Combating land degradation in Namibia over 23 years: learning what matters in DLDD, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, 69(3), 171-174. doi: 10.1080/0035919X.2014.949902
• Ganzin, N., Coetzee, M., Du Pisani, L., Rothauge, a., Fotsing, J-M. (2005). Rangeland resources assessment with satellite imagery: An operational tool for national planning in Namibia. Geocarto International, 20(3), 33-42. September 2005.
• Rowell, M.J., Coetzee, M.E. (2003). The measurement of low organic matter contents in soils. South African Journal of Plant & Soil. 20(2), 49-53.
• Verheye, W., Coetzee, M.E. (2003). Assessing the value of farmland on the basis of natural resource criteria in Namibia. 2. Suggestions for a Namibian system. The Land 2003, 7(1), 21-40.
• Rowell, M.J., Coetzee, M.E. (2001). A checking system for quality control in soil analysis laboratory in Namibia. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 32(19-20), 3169-3184.

Non peer-reviewed articles

• Coetzee, M.E. (2006). A national bio-energy-roadmap for Namibia – compiled from the original Roadmap for bio-oil-energy by F. Kruger, J. Crafford, G. Oliver, C. Roos and S. Engels. Agricola, 46-53. DART, MAWF.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2006). Biofuel and by-products – compiled from the original Roadmap for bio-oil-energy by F. Kruger, J. Crafford, G. Oliver, C. Roos and S. Engels. Agricola, 54-58. DART, MAWF.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2006). The micro-economics of crop-oil production for energy – compiled from the original Roadmap for bio-oil-energy by F. Kruger, J. Crafford, G. Oliver, C. Roos and S. Engels. Agricola, 49-62. DART, MAWF.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2005). Arenosols of Namibia. Agricola, 18-22. DART, Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF).
• Verheye, W., Coetzee, M. (2004). Assessing the value of farmland on the basis of natural resource criteria in Namibia. 2. Suggestions for a Namibian system. Agricola. DART, MAWF.
• Kutuahupira, J.T., Mouton, H.D., Coetzee, M.E. Coetzee. (2003). Soil Survey at Mahanene Research Station. Agricola, 59-66. DART, MAWRD.
• Kutuahupira, J.T., Mouton, H.D., Coetzee, M.E. Coetzee. (2003). Soil Survey at Sonop Research Station. Agricola, 67-72. DART, MAWRD.
• Coetzee, M.E, Beernaert, F., Calitz, A.J. (1999). Soil survey of Uitkomst Research Station.  Agricola, 10, 17-25. DART, MAWRD.
• De Pauw, E, Coetzee, ME. (1999). Production of an agro-ecological zones map of Namibia (first approximation). Part I: Condensed methodology. Agricola, 10, 27-31. DART, MAWRD.
• De Pauw, E., Coetzee, M.E., Calitz, A.J., Beukes, H., Vits, C. (1999). Production of an agro-ecological zones map of Namibia (first approximation). Part II: Results. Agricola, 10, 33-43. DART, MAWRD.
• Agro-Ecological Zoning Programme. (1998/9). Preliminary agro-ecological zones. Addendum to Agricola. Directorate of Agricultural Research and Training (DART), Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development (MAWRD).
• Strohbach, B.J., Calitz, A.J., Coetzee, M.E. (1996). Erosion hazard mapping: Modelling the vegetation cover. Agricola. DART, MAWRD.

Conference proceedings

• Coetzee, M.E. (2015, September). Predictions of different climate change models for Namibia. Abstract. In: Proceedings of the 19th Namibian Rangeland Forum. Windhoek: Namibian Rangeland Forum.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2009, July). Climate change and agriculture in Namibia – Adaptation and Opportunities. Keynote Paper. In: Proceedings of the 13th AGRISSON Congress. Windhoek: AGRISSON.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2009, July). Biochar – ‘Black is the new green’. In: Proceedings of the 13th AGRISSON Congress. Windhoek: AGRISSON.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2007, July). Climate change predictions: Impacts, vulnerability, adaptation. In: Proceedings of the 12th AGRISSON Congress. Windhoek: AGRISSON.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2005, January). Assessing the value of farmland on the basis of natural resource criteria in Namibia: Suggestions for a Namibian system. Abstract. In: Proceedings of the Congress of the Soil Science Society of Southern Africa. Potchefstroom, South Africa; SSSSA.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2003, August). Spatial analysis of bush density and encroacher species data. In: Proceedings of the 10th AGRISSON Congress. Windhoek: AGRISSON.
• Rothauge, A., Ganzin, N., Coetzee, M.E., Du Pisani, A.L. (2003, July). Rangeland resources assessment with satellite imagery: an operational tool for national planning in Namibia. From science to implementation. In: Proceedings of the 7th Namibian Rangeland Forum. Windhoek: Namibian Rangeland Forum.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2001, June). A new look at the soils of Namibia. In: Proceedings of the 5th Rangeland Forum. Windhoek: AGRISSON.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1999, November). The status of land resources inventories and land degradation assessment in Namibia. In: Proceedings of the 8th AGRISSON Congress. Windhoek: Agricultural Scientific Society of Namibia (AGRISSON).
• Strydom, P.J., Coetzee, M.E., Strohbach, B.J. (1993). Agro-ecological zoning in Namibia. In: Proceedings of the 5th AGRISSON Congress. Windhoek: AGRISSON.

Poster presentations

• Coetzee, M.E. (2011, July 6). Low and medium resolution remote sensing applications in agriculture. Polytechnic of Namibia Symposium on Earth Observation Applications in Namibia. Windhoek.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2006, January). The soils of Namibia at a glance. Joint Congress of Soil Science Society of South Africa, South African Society of Crop Production and Southern African Weed Science Society, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
• Strohbach, B., Strohbach, M., Coetzee, M., Zimmermann, Z., Petersen, A., Gröngröft, A., Hachfeld, B., Jürgens, N. (2005, November).  The contribution of BIOTA towards natural resource data in Namibia and its application in land use management. BIOLOG status seminar, Würzburg, Germany.
• Espach, C., Coetzee, M.E. (2005, October).  Land cover mapping in support of land reform. AfricaGIS2005 Conference, Pretoria, South Africa.
• Rothauge, A., Ganzin, N., Coetzee, M. (2003, July). A case study of the application of satellite imagery to estimate biomass production of a semi-arid rangeland in Namibia. 7th International Rangeland Congress, Durban, South Africa.
• Oller, P., Ascaso, E., Coetzee, M., Marturia, J., Roca, A. (2003, June). Project to support the agro-ecological zoning programme in Namibia. Final Results. 4th European Congress on Regional Geoscientific Cartography and Information Systems, Bologna, Italy.
• Ganzin, N., Rothauge, A., Coetzee, M.E., Du Pisani, A.L. (2003, July). Rangeland resource assessment with satellite imagery: an operational tool for national planning in Namibia. 7th International Rangeland Congress, Durban, South Africa.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2001, January). Mapping the soils of Namibia. Joint Congress of Soil Science Society of South Africa, South African Society of Crop Production and Southern African Weed Science Society, Pretoria, South Africa.
• Coetzee, M.E., Calitz, A.J., Beukes, H.A. (1995). Geographical information systems. 6th AGRISSON Congress, Otjiwa, Namibia.
• Human, N.B., Coetzee, M., De Munnik, R.O., Kuschke, R., Matthee, T., Koch, F.G.L. (1995). An interactive climate / geographical information system for Namibia. 19th Congress of the Soil Science Society of South Africa, South African Society of Crop Production and Southern African Weed Science Society, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
• Coetzee, M.E., Calitz, A.J., Beukes, H.A., Strohbach, B.J. (1994, September). AGROMET application for Namibia. 21st Meeting of the SARCCUS Subcommittee for Land Use Planning and Erosion Control (LUPEC), Swakopmund, Namibia.

Magazine articles

• Coetzee, M. (2010, April). Climate change and agriculture in Namibia. Agriforum, 23(3), 54-55.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2001). Growing period zones. AgriInfo.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2000, December/ 2001, January). Groeiperiodesones: Gereedskap vir akkerbou risikobestuur. Agriforum.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1999, April). Grondopname spreek verskeie leemtes aan. AgriForum.
• Coetzee. M.E. (1999, December / 2000, January). Vordering met die kartering van Namibië se gronde. Agriforum.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1998). Olives for Namibia? Agri-Info, 4(6).

Conference presentations & invited talks

• Coetzee, M.E. (2023, October). Soil degradation and conservation, with Namibian case studies. Guest lecture to faculty and masters students, Magyar Agrár- és Élettudományi Egyetem, Gödöllő, Hungary.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2017, April). Namibia – Arid land, dryland soils: Calcisols, Gypsisols, Durisols, Solonchaks, Solonetz. Guest lectures to faculty, doctoral and masters students, Szent István University, Gödöllő, Hungary.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2016, November). Soil – The living skin of Earth. DRFN & Gobabeb RTC Summer Drylands Programme, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2015, February 6). Update on climate change and feedback from UNFCCC COP 20. Research Day, School of Natural Resources and Spatial Sciences, Polytechnic of Namibia, Windhoek.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2013, September 16). Variability matters in desertification, land degradation and drought: Namibian farming in a variable environment. Side Event, 11th United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification Conference of Parties (UNCCD COP11), Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2012, February). Satellite image-derived vegetation indices. Agronomic Producers Association, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2012, January). Impacts of climate change. Habitable Planet Workshop, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2011, September 21). Climate change, agriculture and food security in Namibia. UNCRD/VNUHCM Senior Policy Seminar: Towards a Green Economy: The Effects of Climate Change on Food Security and Earth Resources in Africa and Asia, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2011, August 16). Earth Observation and Satellite Applications Research and Training Centre – EOSA-RTC. 1st Geo-information Society of Namibia (GISNA) Congress, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2011, June 27). Low and medium resolution remote sensing applications in agriculture. Polytechnic of Namibia Symposium on Earth Observation Applications in Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2011, June). Climate Change and Water in Namibia. Cuvewaters/Polytechnic of Namibia Vacation School for Masters Students, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2010, October 6). Climate Change and Biodiversity. Commemoration of Arbour Day and International Year of Biodiversity, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2010, June 15). Soil – The living skin of Earth. Public Talk, Commemoration of Wold Day to Combat Desertification, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2009, July 1). Climate change and agriculture in Namibia – Adaptation and opportunities. Keynote Speech. 13th AGRISSON Congress, Oshakati, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2009, July 1). Biochar – ‘Black is the new green’. 13th AGRISSON Congress, Oshakati, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2007, July 3-4). Climate change predictions: Impacts, vulnerability, adaptation. 12th AGRISSON Congress, Neudamm, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2007, January). Briefing of Right Honourable Prime Minister Nahas Angula and His Staff on Bio-Energy, Windhoek.
• Coetzee, M.E., Brand, A. (2005, December 6).  Jatropha. Biodiesel Focus Day, Windhoek.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2005, May 30). Soil classification country report: Namibia. 13th EASCO Meeting, Dar-Es-Salaam, Tanzania.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2005, January 10-13). Assessing the value of farmland on the basis of natural resource criteria in Namibia: Suggestions for a Namibian system. Congress of the Soil Science Society of Southern Africa, Potchefstroom, South Africa.
• Coetzee, M.E. (2003, August 6-7). Spatial analysis of bush density and encroacher species data. 10th AGRISSON Congress, Windhoek.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1999, November 2-4). The status of land resources inventories and land degradation assessment in Namibia.  8th AGRISSON Congress, Ehoro Lodge, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1999, October 26-29). The status of land resources inventories and land degradation assessment in Namibia. FAO/ISCW Expert Consultation on Land Resources Inventories/SOTER, National Soil Degradation Assessment and Mapping and its Impacts on Soil Productivity, Pretoria, South Africa.
• Smit, P., Hugo, L., Coetzee, M.E. (1999). MAWRD proposals for the development of commercial farming units in under-utilized communal lands, as a mechanism of land reform. Presented to His Excellency President Sam Nujoma and the Cabinet, Windhoek.
• Coetzee, M.E., Calitz, A.J., Strohbach, B.J. (1997, November 10-12). Soil science development in Namibia. 23rd Meeting of SARCCUS Standing Committee for Soil Science, Pretoria, South Africa.
• Calitz, A.J., Coetzee, M.E., Strohbach, B.J. (1997, November 3-6). Land use planning in Namibia. 24th Meeting of SARCCUS Standing Committee for Conservation and Land Use Planning (CONLUP), Pretoria, South Africa.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1996, November 12-14). Land use planning in Namibia. 23rd Annual Meeting of SARCCUS LUPEC, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1995, August 21-25). Land use planning and erosion control in Namibia. 22nd Meeting of SARCCUS LUPEC, Manzini, Swaziland.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1995). Geographical information systems. 6th AGRISSON Congress, Otjiwa, Namibia.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1994, April 11-15). Land use planning and erosion control in Namibia. SARCCUS LUPEC Workshop on Agro-Ecological Zoning, Gabarone, Botswana.
• Coetzee, M.E. (1992, September 7-11). Country paper: Land use planning in Namibia. 19th Meeting of the SARCCUS Subcommittee for Land Use Planning and Erosion Control (LUPEC), Maseru, Lesotho.

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