Dr. Dixon’s research interests focus on the role of H₂O and CO₂ in the generation and evolution of basaltic magmas with an emphasis on submarine volcanoes. Her work includes solubility studies of H₂O and CO₂ in basaltic melts, vapor saturation and degassing models, and modeling of volatile contents in primary magmas and the mantle. Study areas have included the mid-ocean ridge system, Hawaii, the Galapagos, and the Easter Salas y Gomez Seamount Chain. Dr. Dixon received a NSF Early Career award in 1997 for excellence in research and education. In 2007, EPSL acknowledged one of her papers (Dixon et al., 2004) as one of their top-50 most cited articles.

From 1992 through 2010, Dr. Dixon was a professor at the University of Miami, where she was as a professor at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science and in the Geology Department within the College of Arts and Sciences. At UM, she served as Director of the Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy’s Undergraduate Program (’03-’08), Senior Associate Dean for the Life and Physical Sciences (’06-’10), and Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (’09-’10). In 2011, Dr. Dixon joined the University of South Florida to became Dean of the College of Marine Science. She returned to the faculty as a Professor in July 2020, and recently received a major award from the National Science Foundation to study submarine volcanism on the mid-Atlantic Ridge south of Iceland. The research expedition will involve detailed mapping and sampling using ROV Jason and AUV Sentry.

Dixon is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She serves as the Editor in Chief for Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, a gold open access AGU journal that publishes original research papers on Earth and planetary processes with a focus on understanding the Earth as a system. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and on the MIT Earth, Atmosphere, and Planetary Sciences Advisory Board.