June-2006

Jean-Michel Cousteau to Speak at Sustainable Summit

Famed Oceanographer, Explorer, Filmmaker and Son of the Legendary Jacques Cousteau

Jean-Michel Cousteau, the son of environmentalist and ocean pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau. was born in Toulon, France, in 1938. He has spent his life exploring the world's oceans aboard the research vessels Calypso and Alcyone and communicating to people of all nations and generations his love and concern for the planet.

A graduate of the Paris School of Architecture, Jean-Michel is a member of the Ordre National des Achitectes, the French counterpart of the American Institute of Architects. His work demonstrates a flair for infusing the functional with a new vision, and he is consistently attracted by unconventional challenges.

Prominent among the design and architectural projects on which Jean-Michel has collaborated are artificial floating islands, schools, a residential and recreational complex in Madagascar, and the headquarters of an advanced marine studies center in Marseille. He was instrumental in creating the plans for the development of a tropical island in the Bismarck Sea, and was selected by the Malagasy government to participate in a national survey for the environmental protection and development of Madagascar.

In 1969. Jean-Michel headed the team that transformed a 100,000-square-foot section of the former ocean liner Queen Mary into the Living Sea Museum in Long Beach, California. He also directed the design and development of the Parc Oceanique Cousteau in Paris, a public attraction that introduced new ways of teaching visitors about the ocean realm without captive animals. Today, he continues his commitment to architectural innovation and stimulating exhibitry through his Living Design Corporation, founded in 1973.

Jean-Michel Cousteau is an Impassioned. eloquent spokesman for the environment, reaching out to the public through lectures and the unique educational field-study program, Project Ocean Search. The program offers people of all ages the opportunity to explore pristine marine environments and to study underwater ecosystems. A prominent and active speaker, Jean-Michel travels the country. Lecturing to as many as 100,000 students every year. In recognition of his contributions to learning, he holds an honorary doctor's degree in Humane Letters from Pepperdine University and was recently awarded the 1994 Reaching Out Award by the Dive Equipment Manufacturers Association. Since 1989, Jean-Michel has written a regular column for the Earth Matters service of the Los Angeles Times Syndicate.

In the mid-1960s, Jean-Michel began organizing the logistics for the award-winning television film series The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau. It was the beginning of a long and fruitful occupation with the cinematic medium. He has served as Executive Producer for the film Jacques Cousteau. The First 75 Years. the Cousteau/Amazon film series and the Emmy Award-winning Cousteau/Mississippi. He is Executive Producer and Producer of the current television series Cousteau's Rediscovery of the World which began in 1985 and will, by its finish, include 39 hour-long television documentaries in addition to special reports on timely environmental topics. In 1992, Jean-Michel established his new company, Jean-Michel Cousteau Productions, to expand the range and depth of educational film programming.

In addition to his creative endeavors, Jean-Michel has always enthusiastically welcomed the challenge and opportunity of administrative responsibility. He is a founding member and Vice President of Equipe Cousteau, The Cousteau Society's sister company in France. In 1994 he became a Trustee of the Books Foundation. a nonprofit organization holding the estate of the Brooks Institute of Photography.