2008 Woodie Awards
Sociology professor 'Best of the Best'
EPA honors UCF professor for research on climate change and ozone preservation
Shahdai Richardson
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: News
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On Sept. 19, a UCF sociology professor received The Stratospheric Ozone Protection Best-of-the-Best Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Penelope Canan has only been at UCF for about a year, but her contributions to sociology, ozone protection and the issue of climate change span more than 20 years.
Canan has been a professor for 25 years. However, before coming to UCF, she took a two-year break from teaching. This break led Canan and her work outside of the U.S. where she served as executive director of the Global Carbon Project in Japan.
"This project was about bringing all the sciences together to understand the global carbon cycle within our Earth's systems," Canan said.
One of Canan's most noted career accomplishments is her participation as a member of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel. TEAP comprises committees of experts, researchers and scientists who advise world diplomats on changes that need to be made to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer as a result of new knowledge and technology.
In the 1970s, the EPA and researchers around the world became aware of the theory of ozone depletion in the stratosphere. This theory involved the idea that chemicals created by people, called chlorofluorocarbons, were interacting with the ozone layer, Canan said.
"This layer of ozone is a protective shield from the sun's damaging rays," Canan said. "It is the reason why this planet is inhabitable."
CFCs, which used to be in products such as pesticides and hair spray, were causing the ozone layer to thin out due to their interactions with the ozone. As a result, a hole in the ozone layer developed, Canan said.
In 1987, diplomats from all over the world signed the Montreal Protocol treaty.
"This treaty was the most successful treaty in the history of environmental change and global warming," Canan said.
The Montreal Protocol is an agreement among countries to do whatever possible to remove all present CFCs on Earth and to stop the creation of more CFCs. Since CFCs were such heavily used chemicals, their elimination was expected to be a slow and very expensive process.
Penelope Canan has only been at UCF for about a year, but her contributions to sociology, ozone protection and the issue of climate change span more than 20 years.
Canan has been a professor for 25 years. However, before coming to UCF, she took a two-year break from teaching. This break led Canan and her work outside of the U.S. where she served as executive director of the Global Carbon Project in Japan.
"This project was about bringing all the sciences together to understand the global carbon cycle within our Earth's systems," Canan said.
One of Canan's most noted career accomplishments is her participation as a member of the Technology and Economic Assessment Panel. TEAP comprises committees of experts, researchers and scientists who advise world diplomats on changes that need to be made to the Montreal Protocol on Substances That Deplete the Ozone Layer as a result of new knowledge and technology.
In the 1970s, the EPA and researchers around the world became aware of the theory of ozone depletion in the stratosphere. This theory involved the idea that chemicals created by people, called chlorofluorocarbons, were interacting with the ozone layer, Canan said.
"This layer of ozone is a protective shield from the sun's damaging rays," Canan said. "It is the reason why this planet is inhabitable."
CFCs, which used to be in products such as pesticides and hair spray, were causing the ozone layer to thin out due to their interactions with the ozone. As a result, a hole in the ozone layer developed, Canan said.
In 1987, diplomats from all over the world signed the Montreal Protocol treaty.
"This treaty was the most successful treaty in the history of environmental change and global warming," Canan said.
The Montreal Protocol is an agreement among countries to do whatever possible to remove all present CFCs on Earth and to stop the creation of more CFCs. Since CFCs were such heavily used chemicals, their elimination was expected to be a slow and very expensive process.