Liam Pope-Lau '27 Selected for Team Canada at International Youth Science Forum

Liam Pope-Lau '27 speaking to group at table

St. Michaels University School student Liam Pope-Lau '27 has been selected by Youth Science Canada for the Team Canada delegation at the London International Youth Science Forum (LIYSF) this summer, joining students from more than 90 countries.

Founded in 1959 and opened each year by Royal Patron HRH The Princess Royal, LIYSF is hosted at Imperial College London and the Royal Geographical Society. The program includes lectures and demonstrations by Nobel Laureates and visits to leading research institutions including Oxford, Cambridge and UCL.

Liam's path to that stage has been shaped by a habit of paying attention. When he capsized during a sailing lesson at age 11, he began thinking about how to prevent hypothermia at sea, eventually developing LifeHeat, a water-activated self-heating survival pack that can attach to life jackets or clothing. A beach cleanup sparked his interest in microplastics, which led to science fair work, policy advocacy and, eventually, OceanLens, an AI-powered platform integrating microplastics data with environmental, biodiversity and industry information. In 2025, OceanLens was named a finalist in the International Youth Innovation Challenge by the Global Environmental Education Partnership, making Liam the only finalist from Canada or the United States.

"Many people think of innovation as being STEM-based," Liam said in a recent feature in The Logic, a Canadian business and technology publication, where he was one of three Canadian student innovators profiled. "But innovation is really about looking at how to make things better in all areas: social, environmental and medical.”

Liam is also deepening his commitment to Canada's youth innovation community. Through Ingenious+, the national innovation program administered by the Rideau Hall Foundation, he has taken on roles as ambassador, program advisor, mentor and champion for youth innovation since winning the program's National Innovation Award for Entrepreneurship and Technology in 2024. He also serves as an adjudicator and awards presenter for the Science Fair Foundation of BC's annual Youth Innovation Showcase. Two of this year's national Ingenious+ finalists were students to whom he presented awards at the 2025 Provincial Youth Innovation Showcase.

The spring also brought a milestone at the Governor General's Innovation Awards (GGIAs) in Ottawa, which Liam attended for the third consecutive year, one of only 100 people from across Canada invited to the ceremony. He wore his Duke of Edinburgh Gold Pin to the event after recently completing all three levels of the award, a fitting occasion given that the Governor General serves as patron of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.