2012: Leah Lawrence, P.Eng., FEC, FGC (Hon.)

Leah Lawrence is the President of Clean Energy Capitalists Inc., a company focused on finding innovative ways to generate and use energy differently. She received a bachelor of applied science degree in industrial systems engineering from the University of Regina in 1994 and a master of economics degree from the University of Calgary in 2001.

Lawrence joined APEGA in 1994. She was elected to council in 2007 and served on a number of committees. She was elected as president-elect in 2011 and became president in 2012. She was awarded Honorary Life Membership and named a fellow of both Engineers Canada and the Canadian Academy of Engineering in 2013.

As president of APEGA, Lawrence took the lead in creating a new strategic plan for the association, A Renewed Vision for APEGA Leadership -- A Strategic Plan for 2013-2016. In this plan she advocated the need for APEGA members and permit holders to earn and maintain a social licence to operate.

For APEGA and its members to gain the public’s trust, she further advocated for developing the public’s sense of confidence in professional engineers’ and geoscientists’ competency and the understanding that APEGA members act in the public’s interest. To start the discussion among members, she took this message on the road at the president’s branch visits and by writing about it in her column, President’s Notebook, in The PEG.

Lawrence is an entrepreneur who sees the world as a series of puzzles to unravel. From 2000 to 2003, she helped start Climate Change Central, the first public-private partnership on climate change in Canada. From 2004 to 2005, she partnered with a Utah-based greenhouse gas credit and physical CO2 company to start a CO2 business in Alberta. From 2006 to 2008 she worked on carbon capture and storage and CO2-enhanced oil recovery with Canada's largest independent oil and gas producer. Some of her recent efforts include carbon capture and storage, flare gas capture for electricity generation, as well as utility and commercial-scale solar energy.

In addition to serving her profession, Lawrence is active in her community and dedicates her time to many community organizations and causes.