Nancy "Nan" Anderson died Sept. 29, 2007 at her residence in Chincoteague. Nan retired from the University of Maryland at College Park where she taught psychological statistics. She moved to Chincoteague in 1996 and became a volunteer at Chincoteague Refuge in 1997. Nan had an interest in outdoor activities and helped plant and tag trees after the southern pine beetle attack. Nan helped with the annual beach cleanup, International Migratory Bird Celebrations. and served as an ambassador during Waterfowl Week.

Nan participated in the Marine Debris Study. Every month the group picked up trash on a section of beach and recorded the type and quantity of trash that was collected. The information was sent to the Ocean Conservancy, who is conducting an international pollution study. During the first phase, from the period of 1997 through 2002, the Chincoteague Refuge Volunteers was the only group from 40 monitoring sites along the Atlantic coast to never miss a monthly cleanup and were presented with an award from The Ocean Conservancy for this accomplishment!