Professor honored for service to National Academies

Nancy Targett, a professor of marine biology-biochemistry in the College of Marine Studies, has been named a National Associate of the National Academies in honor of her "extraordinary service" to the institution.

Comprising the National Academy of Sciences, the National Research Council, the National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine, the National Academies provide advice to Congress, the White House and the public on science, technology and health issues. They enlist committees of the nation's top scientists, engineers and policy experts, who volunteer their time to study specific concerns.

Targett was awarded the honorary, lifetime title in recognition of her service on the National Research Council's Ocean Studies Board. The board, made up of 22 marine scientists from across the nation, examines the science, policies and infrastructure needed to understand and protect U.S. marine and coastal environments and resources. Targett chaired the board's Marine Biotechnology Committee last year and continues to serve on the Non-Native Oysters in the Chesapeake Committee.

A marine biochemist, Targett has been on the UD faculty since 1984 and is based at the Hugh R. Sharp Campus in Lewes. She conducts research on how chemistry mediates interactions between marine organisms in habitats ranging from coral reefs to the Delaware Bay. Currently, she is working to develop an artificial bait that mimics the chemical attractant found in the horseshoe crab--Delaware's state marine animal--to minimize the crab's use as bait in eel and conch fisheries.

Targett recently completed a five-year appointment as associate dean of the College and a six-year appointment to the Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council. She is the associate editor of the Journal of Chemical Ecology and a lifetime member of the International Society of Chemical Ecology.

In 1999, she was selected as a fellow of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program. Sponsored by the Ecological Society of America, the program teaches environmental scientists how to become more effective communicators of scientific information to the public.