Alexander came to historical marine ecology with a background in theoretical mathematics as well as maritime history. Interdisciplinary projects often need a translator to communicate between disciplines. Alexander provided this service for HMAP’s University of New Hampshire Center, the Gulf of Maine Cod Project, and worked with Andy Rosenberg, Jeff Bolster, Bill Leavenworth and others to analyze long-term change in marine ecology and coastal villages along the Gulf of Maine coast.
Historical papers include “So ends this day: personal records of life at sea from 19-century New England fishermen’s logs” (2009 The Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife). With Jeremy Jackson and Enric Sala, she edited and contributed to Shifting Baselines: The Past and Future of Ocean Fisheries (2011), and with Robert D. Madison, edited Journal of a Cruise to the Pacific Ocean (1986).