Melissa J Lawrie

Born in Southport England in 1982, Melissa Lawrie grew up in Erie Pennsylvania. She graduated from Girard High School in 2000, where she was active in the concert band playing the oboe, marching band on the tenor sax, concert choir, bell choir, school theater productions, and yearbook committee. She also participated in the Erie Junior Philharmonic and Erie Youth Symphony in the violin sections.

Melissa attended Chatham College in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, where she double majored in English and marketing, was active in the English department, participated in the school's choir and the "Green Horizons" environmental club, and rowed on the crew team. At Chatham, Melissa worked for four years in the college admissions office and volunteered with the adult literacy program.

After college, Melissa spent a year in San Francisco before returning to Pittsburgh to work in a temporary administrative position at Chatham. In May 2005 she traveled to the Republic of Azerbaijan, where she worked for two years as an English teacher and community development worker as a member of the US Peace Corps. There, she was active in working in the classroom with local counterparts, as well as outside of the classroom, writing two USAID small project grant proposals for a national level girls' leadership camp and a computer training course for computer teachers.

Upon completing Peace Corps, Melissa enrolled in the Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon University, where she is currently studying as a candidate for a Master of Science in Public Policy and Management degree. She is interested in pursuing areas of environmental policy in relation to climate change, and is involved with the International Development Group.