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Jean-Michel Cousteau

Mark Lynas
 

TOPICS
Environment, Ecology, Exploration, Climate Change
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Explorer, Environmental Educator, Filmmaker

Explorer, environmentalist, educator, film producer— for more than four decades Jean- Michel Cousteau has used his vast experiences to communicate to people of all nations and generations his love and concern for our water planet.

The son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel founded Ocean Futures Society in 1999 to carry on this pioneering work. Ocean Futures Society, a non-profit marine conservation and education organization, serves as a voice for the ocean by communicating the critical bond between people and the sea and the importance of wise environmental policy. As Ocean Future’s spokesman, Jean-Michel serves as an impassioned diplomat for the environment, reaching out to the public through a variety of media.

Jean-Michel has been Executive Producer of over 80 films and is currently the Executive Producer of “Jean- Michel Cousteau’s Ocean Adventures” a six-part series in partnership with KQED, a PBS-affiliate. It has become the most popular new PBS series in 2006. Jean-Michel has been awarded the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the 7 d’Or, and the Cable Ace Award.

As Vice President of The Cousteau Society for nearly 20 years, and now as President of Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel travels the globe, meeting with leaders and policymakers at the grassroots level and at the highest echelons of government and business. He is dedicated to educating young people, documenting stories of change and hope, and lending his reputation and support to energize alliances for positive change.

He has been recognized for this work with the following awards: first recipient of the Ocean Hero Award from Oceana in 2003; first person to represent the Environment in the Opening Ceremonies of the 2000 Olympic Games; Environmental Hero Award, presented by Vice President Gore, in 1998; cited for his work by President George W. Bush in designating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands a National Monument in 2006; and the recipient of the Poseidon Award for lifetime achievement from Reef Check.

For over 30 years, Jean-Michel and his team have conducted a hands-on environmental education program, now called Ambassadors of the Environment, in over seven countries, reaching thousands of people in a personal and in-depth way to change views on sustainable living and personal responsibility to the environment.

• For his service to the environment, Jean-Michel has received the following recognition:
• Honorary Doctor’s Degree in Humane Letters from Pepperdine University
• Induction into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame
• DEMA’s 1994 Reaching Out Award
• 1995 NOGI Award from the Academy of Underwater Arts and Sciences
• SeaKeepers 1996 Award from Showboats International
• 1996 John M. Olguin Marine Environment Award from the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
• Elected a Member, Explorers’ Club

Jean-Michel graduated from the Paris School of Architecture in 1964 and is a member of the Ordre National des Architectes. Most recently, he led the design of an environmentally and culturally oriented family resort, the Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort, to demonstrate the economic benefits of exercising environmental concern and design. In 2005, the resort received Conde Naste’s top environmental design award.

His other architectural projects include:

• Reconstruction of a 100,000 square foot section of the former ocean liner, Queen Mary, into the Living Sea Museum in Long Beach, California in 1969
• Director of design and development of the Parc Oceanique Cousteau in Paris, a public attraction that introduced new ways of teaching visitors about the ocean without captive animals
• Member of the selection committee for the International NASA/AIA Space Station design competition in 1972.

 

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