Brief Biography

Lawrence Yeh is a civil engineering undergraduate, amateur musician, and a self-described activist. He is best known for his history with the Department of Music at Vaughan Secondary School and his activities with the Earth Charter Festival. He is now a coordinator for the Sustainable Technology Education Project.

Musical Upbringing
Coming from a classically trained music background in piano since the age of 7, Lawrence has foraged into other genres over the years. He picked up the guitar in 2002, and later joined some schoolmates for two brief stints in a rock band. In grade school he chose the tenor saxophone as his instrument and immediately loved it, and he continued to play it throughout high school where he served as a principle chair in the senior band. He entered the jazz arena in 2002 and soon after picked up the baritone saxophone, having found a great passion for jazz music as well.

His high school's bands were busy on the Ontario competition circuit, and in this environment he found great passion. In early 2006, he began teaching and mentoring other students, and developed an interest in conducting as well. He received numerous awards in his final years of high school, including Graduating Musician of the Year and the Ambassador Award. Although he stopped his pursuit of attaining an ARCT diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Music, he continues to enjoy playing the piano and exploring different genres of music. Lawrence is also seeking to promote music education, and is welcoming of any persons with an interest in joining the initiative.

Activism
In 2004, his third year of high school, he began serving as a lead coordinator of the Earth Charter Festival (formerly the Human Rights Festival), a high school-based organization operating on the principles of the Earth Charter. It brought social and environmental issues to attention, raising awareness and increasing dialogue with the aim of spurring global citizenship and activism. It also sought to celebrate past achievements towards a sustainable world. The group's ambitions plans included harvesting the enthusiasm of youth to bring about a new attitude towards global awareness.

The Earth Charter Festivals were heavily advertised and brought together dozens of NGOs, public speakers, activists, environmentalists, cultural representatives, fair trade groups, and many others. The events involved workshops that were presented to the entire school population, as well as other schools in the school board. ABEL-Conferences during the events linked schools from across the country in a real-time video discussion. Topics within the Earth Charter realm included human rights, social justice, fair trade, extreme poverty, HIV/AIDS, climate change/global warming, and renewable energy, among many others.

The organization's events were well-received, and had a great impact on Lawrence, having originally joined in 2003 as a photographer and webmaster. That same year, he was appointed to the York Region District School Board's Race Relations Committee. In 2005, the Earth Charter Festival earned the Anti-Racism and Ethno Cultural Education Award.

Other Avenues
Lawrence has always valued the power of language and communication, and his life experiences inspired him to use writing as a tool for spreading new ideas and increasing dialogue among an increasingly disconnected world community. He is also in the planning stages of an initiative to promote children's interest in languages and to lobby for a strong focus on language in the public education system.

Undergraduate Studies
In the fall of 2006, he began his pursuit of an undergraduate degree in honours civil engineering at the University of Waterloo, and is slated for graduation in 2011. He joined the Undergraduate Marketing and Recruitment Committee, evaluating the university's recruitment strategies and materials, as well as the university's reputation and image.

New Chapter of Activism
In January of 2007, Lawrence joined the Sustainable Technology Education Project, STEP. The organization is currently planning for the construction of a medium-sized wind turbine on the campus of the University of Waterloo for the purpose of demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of wind turbines built for electricity generation. This project, while providing power generation to the grid, will act as a new level of accomplishment for renewable energy and will act as a beacon of innovation for the University of Waterloo itself. Although wind turbines are not new, to have a student-led group erect a fully-operational wind turbine will push the envelope in terms of what is expected from student organizations.

With STEP, Lawrence hopes to intiate a new change in philosophical thinking towards environmental sustainability. By building the turbine on campus and by creating the university into a living laboratory of renewable energy, the audience most greatly imapcted by this accomplishment will be the bright young minds. He hopes that the project will allow students to see the need and the practicality of developing a new sustainable culture, one that involves individual social responsibility and renewable energy.

Future Plans
He is currently focused on continuing his studies at the university, while working with the Sustainable Technology Education Project and the Marketing and Recruitment Committee.