Novella Bridges, a chemist who has helped develop processes to reduce diesel emissions in vehicles and create therapeutic agents for cancer treatments, has been named one of 14 Distinguished Women in Chemistry/Chemical Engineering by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, or IUPAC.

The awards were made by IUPAC to mark the 100th anniversary of the Nobel Prize in chemistry awarded to Marie Sklodowska Curie.  Bridges, who has worked at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory since 2000, and the other international recipients will be honored at a ceremony during the IUPAC World Congress in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug. 2.

Bridges is a project manager in PNNL's Operational Planning and Logistical group where she currently serves as the training manager for the Radiation Portal Monitoring Project.  RPMP is a federal program to deploy radiation detection systems at all U.S. Customs and Border Protection ports of entry.

Prior to this assignment she worked as a research scientist, primarily involved in radiochemistry separations and the development of novel catalytic systems used for bio-based products.  While at PNNL, Bridges has worked on projects designed to reduce diesel emissions in vehicles, locomotives and light-weight trucks; improve production of hydrogen for fuel cells and other advanced energy systems; and research that has led to the development of radio-labeled composites as therapeutic agents for cancer treatments.

Bridges earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Jackson State University in Jackson, Mississippi, and a doctorate in inorganic chemistry from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. 

Bridges is the recipient of several national professional awards and has been heavily involved in advancing K-12 science education.  She was on the planning committee for Delta High School, one of the Northwest's first STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) high schools.  Delta opened in 2009 in Richland, Wash.  She also won PNNL's Fitzner-Eberhardt Award for outstanding contributions to science and engineering education.