Coggins is the Frank Edwards Tyler Professor of Law at the University of Kansas. He received his A.B. from Central Michigan University and his J.D. from the University of Michigan. Coggins has visited at the Notre Dame, Lewis & Clark, North Carolina, Denver, Texas, and Vienna law schools. He has written and lectured widely on many facets of environmental and public natural resources law. He has also been an American delegate to environmental law exchanges with the Soviet Union.