Jean-Michel Cousteau

Explorer, Environmentalist, Educator, Filmmaker

  • Jean-Michel Cousteau Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $30,001 - $40,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English, French

  • Travels From

    California, USA

  • Jean-Michel Cousteau Keynote Speaker Fee Fee range is for U.S. events, depending on location and organization type

    $30,001 - $40,000

  • Languages Spoken

    English, French

  • Travels From

    California, USA

Suggested Keynote Speaker Programs

The Great Ocean Adventure

Drawing from over 60 years of experience exploring the world, designing, and studying the ocean realm, environmental speaker Jean-Michel Cousteau provides a wealth of stories and knowledge from his adventurous life. Using his experiences designing artificial floating islands, ...

Drawing from over 60 years of experience exploring the world, designing, and studying the ocean realm, environmental speaker Jean-Michel Cousteau provides a wealth of stories and knowledge from his adventurous life. Using his experiences designing artificial floating islands, schools, and environmentally responsible ocean-oriented resorts, Cousteau explains how his formal education in architecture provided him with the theories he has applied to the environment of the water as an oceanographer. Taking audiences on a tour of his childhood dreams of underwater cities to the reality of his accomplished career as an architect, Cousteau’s “Great Ocean Adventure” inspires the imaginations and dreams of all who witness it.

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The Sustainable Future: Preserve the Oceans, Protect Ourselves

As the founder of the Ocean Futures Society, a marine conservation and education organization, Jean-Michel Cousteau inspires and educates audiences worldwide about the need to act responsibly and preserve the fragile underwater ecosystems that are so intricately tied to all ...

As the founder of the Ocean Futures Society, a marine conservation and education organization, Jean-Michel Cousteau inspires and educates audiences worldwide about the need to act responsibly and preserve the fragile underwater ecosystems that are so intricately tied to all life on earth. Cousteau, who is also on the cutting edge of environmentally responsible architecture, documents the critical connection between humanity and nature, and celebrates the ocean’s vital importance to our survival.

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My Father, the Captain: Legacy of Ocean Exploration

In the early 1940s during the Second World War, Jacques Cousteau and a team of French men created a revolutionary piece of equipment called the ‘Aqualung’, a device that allowed our species, for the first time ever, to breathe air beneath the sea while swimming ...

In the early 1940s during the Second World War, Jacques Cousteau and a team of French men created a revolutionary piece of equipment called the ‘Aqualung’, a device that allowed our species, for the first time ever, to breathe air beneath the sea while swimming freely like a fish. With underwater camera equipment in hand, my father and his team opened our eyes to the undersea world, and our perception of the planet has never been the same. We have now become aware of the impacts we are having on our fragile ocean planet. Today, with new breakthroughs in underwater filming we can capture extraordinary images in ways that my father could have only dreamed.  And with new equipment like the ExoSuit, we can explore deeper into our oceans, learning more about our life-support system: the ocean. When we protect the ocean, we protect ourselves.  Jean-Michel Cousteau will share a wealth of stories of ocean exploration with much enthusiasm for the future of learning all that we can about our water planet.

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Rulers and Caretakers of the Sea: Orcas and Sharks

All creatures on Earth play a part in sustaining the balance of life, but there are some whose presence in the oceans is truly extraordinary. The most complex marine species on the planet – our counterparts in the sea – are the orca, the ruler of the oceans. For me, I...

All creatures on Earth play a part in sustaining the balance of life, but there are some whose presence in the oceans is truly extraordinary. The most complex marine species on the planet – our counterparts in the sea – are the orca, the ruler of the oceans. For me, I am forever and deeply fascinated by their intelligence and sophisticated behaviors unique to orca cultures. As top predators, orcas, along with sharks, maintain the balance and diversity of life in the sea. We must continue to learn all that we can from the oceans apex predators so we may continue to benefit from the diversity of life they preserve. They are the caretakers of the sea. We live on a water planet and our futures depend on a healthy ocean.

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Everything is Connected: Our Futures Depend on a Healthy Blue Planet

No matter where you live on Earth, you are connected to the ocean. There is only one water system. The rains that fall from the highest mountains carve the landscapes of Earth and make their way back to the sea. From some of the largest creatures in the oceans, like the ...

No matter where you live on Earth, you are connected to the ocean. There is only one water system. The rains that fall from the highest mountains carve the landscapes of Earth and make their way back to the sea. From some of the largest creatures in the oceans, like the goliath groupers and magnificence manta rays, to some of the smallest, like the Spanish dancer nudibranch and the vibrant clownfish, all life is linked in a delicate balance. Our impacts on one side of the world can be felt on the other. In the mangroves and coral reefs, an abundance of life flourishes, while in the open seas, humpback whales sing in a breathtaking ballet. There is untold beauty and inspiration on our ocean planet. We can all make a difference – by protecting and conserving all life on our water planet, for us now, and for generations to come.

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About Keynote Speaker Jean-Michel Cousteau

About Keynote Speaker Jean-Michel Cousteau
For more than five decades, Jean-Michel Cousteau has dedicated himself and his vast experience 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 has investigated the world’s oceans aboard Calypso and Alcyone for much of his life. Honoring his heritage, Jean-Michel founded Ocean Futures Society in 1999 to carry on this pioneering work.

As Chairman of the Board and President of Ocean Futures Society, a non-profit marine conservation and education organization, Jean-Michel travels the world, meeting with leaders and policymakers at the grassroots level and at the highest echelons of government and businesses. 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.  As Ocean Futures Society’s spokesman, Jean-Michel serves as an impassioned diplomat for the environment, reaching out to the public through a variety of media and educational programs.

With Jean-Michel’s lifetime of achievements and exemplary public service in ocean conservation through education, awareness, and diplomacy, he was honored with the highest French civilian order of distinction, the Chevalier de la Légion D’Honneur, Knight of the Legion of Honor from the President of France, François Hollande in May 2016.

Jean-Michel has produced over 80 films, received the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the Sept d’Or, and the Cable Ace Award. In 1989, he became a syndicated columnist for the Los Angeles Times where his articles appeared in over sixty newspapers worldwide.  Reaching millions of people globally through Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel continues to produce environmentally oriented adventure programs and television specials, public service announcements, multi-media programs for schools, web-based marine content, books, articles for magazines, newspaper columns, and public lectures. His most recent film, an IMAX film, “Secret Ocean 3D” opened in 2015 and screened in over fifty theaters around the world.

In 2006, Jean-Michel’s initiative to protect the Northwest Hawaiian Islands took him to The White House where he screened his PBS-KQED documentary, Voyage to Kure, for President George W. Bush. The President was inspired and in June 2006, he declared the 1,200-mile chain of islands a Marine National Monument—at the time the largest marine protected areas in the world.

Jean-Michel also has a long history of innovative design in the field of architecture and the ocean. Acting on a childhood dream to build cities under the sea, he pursued a degree in architecture from the Paris School of Architecture and remains a member of the Ordre National des Architectes. Artificial floating islands, schools, and an advanced marine studies center in Marseilles, France, are among his projects.

Some of Jean-Michel’s numerous awards:

Jean-Michel has won dozens of awards recognizing his efforts, including: Pepperdine University awarded Jean-Michel an Honorary Doctor’s Degree in Humane Letters in 1976. In 2003, he was inducted into the International Scuba Diving Hall of Fame.  In 2008, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Jules Verne Adventures and the National Marine Sanctuaries Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.  In 2012, Jean-Michel was appointed as Ambassador-Global Cities Covenant on Climate- Mexico City Pact and received the Environmental Hero award from the Surf Industry Manufacture Association. And in 2016, Jean-Michel received Environmental Academy Award from the World Business Academy.

Testimonials

“Mr. Cousteau was a smashing success. Many have said he was the best speaker we have ever had. His message was equally compelling and enriching, and delivered in style that revealed his compassion for his work.”

AAMGA

 

“I cannot say enough…the audience loved Mr. Cousteau.  I received glowing reviews about his presentation. ‘Best event ever!’ was heard over and over throughout the evening.”

Peninsula College Foundation

 

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