Diane has worked as a research scientist and educator in the academic, government and non-profit sectors. In 1996, she founded The Lobster Conservancy with a vision of building a bridge to join all those sharing the common goal of maintaining a strong and healthy lobster resource.

Boston University awarded Diane with a Presidential University Graduate Fellowship to support her graduate studies. Diane earned her Ph.D. from the Boston University Marine Program in 1992 while studying lobster molting and reproduction at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. In 1999, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution awarded Diane a Fellowship in Marine Policy to continue her studies.

Diane has taught courses in Marine Biology, Oceanography, Animal Behavior, and Ecology at many institutions including Bates College, University of Southern Maine, Suffolk University and the Isle of Shoals Marine Laboratory.

As Leader of the Division of Biological Monitoring for the state of Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, Diane served as the state’s chief lobster biologist. She was also responsible for supervising programs for the lobster, shrimp, herring and urchin fisheries.

Diane’s publications and conference presentations include primary research papers on Lobster Mating Systems Ecology, Chemical Communication, Social Behavior and Migrations, Molting and Early Life History, and Thermal Histories of Brooding Female Lobsters.

Diane’s work has been featured by the media on television (including, the Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, Animal Planet Report, PBS), radio (including All Things and Maine Things Considered), in newspapers (including the New York Times, Washington Post, Portland Press Herald, AP), magazines (including Der Spiegel, Atlantic Monthly, Chronicle of Higher Education), and books (including The Secret Life of Lobsters and The Lobster Coast). She also contributes health and handling tips on lobsters in her monthly "Ask the Lobster Doc" column featured in "Commercial Fisheries News".