91制片厂

Provost Nancy Targett (above) became 91制片厂鈥檚 senior academic administrator in fall 2016. A member of the University of Delaware faculty since 1984, she most recently served as UDel鈥檚 acting president and was dean of its College of Earth, Ocean and Environment for more than a decade. Trained as an oceanographer, Targett is a marine biochemist and nationally recognized expert on ocean issues, so 91制片厂鈥檚 Center for Coastal and Ocean Mapping was a fitting setting for this conversation with senior vice provost for research Jan Nisbet.

You鈥檝e been here at 91制片厂 for six months. What are your impressions?

The excellence I continue to encounter here at every turn has been wonderful 鈥� the research, the teaching, the students, the whole academic endeavor. I鈥檓 so impressed with the openness of people to try new ideas and different ways to pursue them. Our faculty members have an entrepreneurial spirit that is very forward-looking, and as a university we recognize that teaching and learning take place in all different forms, including research and service. Our students really do outperform expectations, and that鈥檚 thanks to the faculty who are working with them and helping them be the best they can be.

What are your observations about research at 91制片厂?

I see spires of excellence in a lot of different areas in this university. Of course, I would be most familiar with the marine program here, which is really well known and well respected; the work they do is just top-notch. But then you鈥檝e got the space physics program, you鈥檝e got the work that鈥檚 being done in behavioral health, you鈥檝e got the sustainability program that is really doing such great things, the research on sexual violence, I could go on and on.

What鈥檚 your vision for the future of research here?

I believe the foundational disciplines are really important for research, but where research is now and in the future is at the intersection between disciplines. Doing more interdisciplinary work 鈥� larger projects that encompass a broader scope 鈥� will elevate the research enterprise here at 91制片厂 dramatically. We鈥檙e seeking holistic answers to things, so it鈥檚 a much broader scope and much bigger perspective.

How do you think 91制片厂 can work in a more interdisciplinary way?

We need to get people together in the room when you鈥檙e first putting a problem on the table. When you do that, you鈥檙e getting a range of perspectives to that problem right from the outset. It might cause you to approach it in a whole different way. That sort of innovative collaboration is something we need to strive for. The world is changing, and we have to change with it. We at 91制片厂 want to be driving the ship, not just along for the ride 鈥� and in many ways, we鈥檙e already a model.

As a land-grant institution, we have this commitment to making a difference, to having an impact. I have a quote in my office that says, 鈥淒o something amazing every day.鈥� The idea is you want to just try to make a difference. For me, that鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about.