She serves on the New Hampshire commission for Coastal Marine Natural Resources and Environment. Her research interests include patterns and processes of biodiversity and biogeography, habitat structure, and introduced species. In these areas, her research focuses on 1) Biogeography of marine species, 2) Introduced species, 3) Biogenic structure and ecosystem function and 4) Integration of data collected by in-situ sampling and remote-sensing techniques to identify and characterize marine species assemblages. Dr. Dijkstra received a B.A. from the University of New Brunswick (Canada), a M.Sc. in Marine Biology from the University of Bremen (Germany) and a Ph.D. from the University of New Hampshire.