Amy Cannon received the world’s first Ph.D. in Green Chemistry, driven by a passion to apply chemistry in service of sustainability. She holds a B.S. in Chemistry from Saint Anselm College (1997) and pursued graduate studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she was introduced to the emerging field of Green Chemistry by Dr. John Warner. At a time when the discipline was still taking shape, Amy focused her research on sustainable chemistry solutions, addressing the gap in traditional chemistry education that lacked an emphasis on designing safer, more environmentally responsible chemical products and processes.
Amy’s career has spanned both industry and academia, including roles at Rohm and Haas, Gillette Company, and the University of Massachusetts Lowell. Throughout, she remained deeply committed to transforming chemistry education to better equip scientists with the principles and practices of Green Chemistry.
In 2007, Amy co-founded Beyond Benign, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing Green Chemistry education. Since its inception, Beyond Benign has led initiatives across K–12 and higher education, empowering educators to integrate Green Chemistry into their teaching and foster a generation of scientists prepared to tackle global sustainability challenges.
Amy’s work has been widely recognized. She received the Kenneth G. Hancock Memorial Award in Green Chemistry (2004) for her research on titanium dioxide semiconductors in dye-sensitized solar cells, and the EPA New England Environmental Merit Award (2012) for her leadership in education. Beyond Benign has also earned accolades including the ACS NERM Partners for Progress and Prosperity (P3) Regional Award (2016) and recognition as a semi-finalist in the Buckminster Fuller Challenge (2013).
Hear directly from Amy:
- TEDx talk “The Promise of Green Chemistry“, TEDx Amoskeag Millyard, October 19, 2023
- On the central role that chemistry and chemistry education plays in addressing global sustainability challenges: Sustainable Innovation Through Green Chemistry Podcast (Innovation+ Talks hosted by Paul Heller)
- On the power of community to create transformative change in education
Key publications:
- “The need for and evolution of a global community of practice in green chemistry education”, Moir, J.W., Obhi, N.K., MacKellar, J., Laviska, D., Cannon, A.S., J. Chem. Ed., July 7, 2025, DOI: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5c00234
- “A promise to a sustainable future: 10 years of the Green Chemistry Commitment at Beyond Benign“, Green Chemistry, 2024, Advance Article, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D4GC00575A
- “Green Chemistry Teacher Professional Development in New York State High Schools: A Model for Advancing Green Chemistry“, J. Chem. Educ., 2023, 100, 6, 2224-2232.
- “Women in Green Chemistry and Engineering: Agents of Change Toward the Achievement of a Sustainable Future”, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng., 2022, 10, 9, 2859-2865.
- “Safe and Sustainable Chemistry Activities: Fostering a Culture of Safety in K-12 and Community Outreach Programs”, Cannon, A.S., Keirstead, A.E., Hudson, R., Levy, I.J., MacKellar, J., Enright, M., Anderson, K.R., Howson, E.M., J. Chem. Educ., 2021, 98, 1, 71-77.
- “A Systems Thinking Department: Fostering a Culture of Green Chemistry Practice among Students”, Dicks, A.P., D’eon, J.C., Morra, B., Chisu, C.K., Quinlan, K.B., Cannon, A.S., J. Chem. Educ., 2019, 96, 12, 2836-2844. [DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.9b00287]
- “Models for integrating toxicology concepts into chemistry courses and programs”, Cannon, Amy S., Finster, David, Raynie, Douglas, and Warner, John C., Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews, 10:4, 2017, 436-443.
- “The Green Chemistry Commitment: Transforming chemistry education in higher education” Cannon, Amy S. and Levy, Irvin J. in The Promise of Chemical Education: Addressing our Students’ Needs, ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1193, 2015, pp. 115-125.