Jean-Michel Cousteau

Presidential Speaker Series
Student Union and Recreation Center (map)
Ellensburg Campus
Central Washington University

TICKETS: Reserved seats $25; General Admission $15; Students with I.D. Free

Jean-Michel Cousteau, famed oceanographer, explorer, filmmaker, and son of the legendary Jacques Cousteau, has spent his life communicating to people of all nations and generations his love and concern for our planet. A trained architect, he founded the Ocean Futures Society in 1998, a non-profit marine conservation and education organization that serves as a voice for the Ocean, to carry on his father's work. A tireless spokesperson, Cousteau impresses an ethic of conservation, research, and marine education, while realistically addressing the economic practicalities. In 2002, he made history by becoming the first person to represent the environment in an Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. Cousteau, an impassioned spokesman and diplomat for the environment, reaches out to the public through a variety of media. He has produced over 70 films that have earned him numerous Emmy, Peabody, and Cable Ace Awards.

Most recently, Cousteau's Great Ocean Adventures documentaries were shown on PBS television stations. On June 15 at the White House, after a private screening of the first film in the series, Voyage to Kure, President Bush was so inspired, he announced the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands to be America's newest National Monument, creating a vast new marine sanctuary, extending stronger federal protections to the northwest Hawaiian Islands and the surrounding waters with their endangered monk seals, nesting green sea turtles, and other rare species. Says Bush, "To put this area in context, this national monument is more than 100 times larger than Yosemite National Park," President Bush said. "It's larger than 46 of our 50 states, and more than seven times larger than all our national marine sanctuaries combined. This is a big deal."

Learn more at www.oceanfutures.org.