Penelope Dawn (Penny) Park (July 26, 1953 – December 14, 2018) was a Canadian science journalist.

Early life and education

Penny Park was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

in 1953. She received a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...

linguistics Linguistics is the science, scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure ...

from the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

, where she worked at the university's radio station. After completing her degree, she worked for as a reporter on a

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

New Brunswick morning show covering politics. However, after a few years, she grew dissatisfied with political reporting. She returned to university, receiving a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in

biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary i ...

from the

University of Guelph , mottoeng = "to learn the reasons of realities" , established = May 8, 1964 ()As constituents: OAC: (1874) Macdonald Institute: (1903) OVC: (1922) , type = Public university , chancellor ...

in 1980.

Career

After graduating from the University of Guelph, Park worked briefly at CBC radio in northern Ontario. In 1982, she became a producer on ''Quirks & Quarks'', the CBC's flagship radio science show. She worked as a producer and senior producer on the program for 13 years. In 1994, Park, along with host Jay Ingram, left ''Quirks & Quarks'' to develop the nightly television program '' @discovery.ca'' (later renamed ''Daily Planet'') for Discovery Channel. She worked at Discovery for 16 years, as segment producer, senior producer, and documentary maker for

Daily Planet The ''Daily Planet'' is a fictional newspaper appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, commonly in association with Superman. The newspaper was first mentioned in ''Action Comics'' #23 (April 1940). The ''Daily Planet'' build ...

. In 2010, she left Discovery Channel to become the founding executive director of the Science Media Centre of Canada a non-profit charitable organization set up to inform public debate with accurate science. The centre's primary purpose is to serve

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

s with accurate information on

scientific Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

matters, by providing media alerts about upcoming scientific announcements, giving background information on breaking science new stories, and connecting journalists with scientific experts. In 2017, Park was the launch editor of

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Robe ...

Canada, a Canadian edition of the independent, not-for-profit media outlet. She has also contributed to

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the United Nations Conference on ...

's yearbooks that give updates on selected global environmental issues. Park died of cancer on December 14, 2018.

Honours

In 2013 Park was awarded an honorary doctoral degree, D. Litt., at the

University of the Fraser Valley The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), formerly known as University College of the Fraser Valley and Fraser Valley College, is a Canadian public university with campuses in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission and Hope, British Columbia. Founde ...

. She was the 2014 recipient of the

Sandford Fleming Medal The Sandford Fleming Medal was instituted in 1982 by the Royal Canadian Institute. It consists of the Sandford Fleming Medal with Citation. It is awarded annually to a Canadian who has made outstanding contributions to the public understanding of s ...

from the

Royal Canadian Institute The Royal Canadian Institute for Science (RCIScience), known also as the Royal Canadian Institute, is a Canadian nonprofit organization dedicated to connecting the public with Canadian science. History The organization was formed in Toronto as t ...

for her commitment to excellence and innovation in Canadian science media.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Park, Penny Anglophone Quebec people Canadian women television journalists Journalists from Montreal University of Guelph alumni University of New Brunswick alumni Sandford Fleming Award recipients 20th-century Canadian journalists 21st-century Canadian journalists Canadian science journalists 1953 births 2018 deaths