News

Jean-Michel Cousteau, explorer, environmentalist, educator and film producer, will present "Seas the Day" at a free community lecture hosted by Nike and the Academic Sustainability Programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at PSU, including the PSU-Smithsonian Aquatic Bioinvasion Research and Policy Institute, the International Graduate Certificate in Sustainability and the Environmental Sciences and Resources program.

Cousteau will speak at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, January 26 in PSU's Smith Memorial Student Union Ballroom (1825 SW Broadway, third floor). Seating is limited and is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Cousteau currently serves as an impassioned spokesman and diplomat for the environment, reaching out to the public through a variety of media. He has produced over 70 films, and been awarded the Emmy, the Peabody Award, the 7 d'Or (the French equivalent of the Emmy) and the Cable Ace Award.

This is not the first time that Nike and PSU have partnered to bring a world-renowned speaker on the environment to Portland for a free community lecture. From 1999 to 2001 PSU and Nike, along with PGE and the Oregon Natural Step Network, presented the Millennium Speakers Series of speakers such as William McDonough, Paul Hawken, Benjamin Zander, Dr. Karl-Henrik Robert and Guy Kawasaki.

Since first being "thrown overboard" by his father at the age of seven with newly invented SCUBA gear on his back, Jean-Michel has been exploring the ocean realm. The son of ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel spent much of his life with his family exploring the world's oceans aboard Calypso and Alcyone. After his mother's death in 1990 and his father's in 1997, Jean-Michel founded Ocean Futures Society in 1999 to carry on this pioneering work. Responding to his father's call to "carry forward the flame of his faith," Jean-Michel's Ocean Futures Society, a non-profit marine conservation and education organization, serves as a "Voice for the Ocean" by fostering a conservation ethic, conducting research and developing marine education programs.

Today, as president of Ocean Futures Society, Jean-Michel travels the globe, meeting with world leaders and policymakers, both at the grassroots level and the highest echelons of government and business, educating young people, documenting stories of change and hope, and lending his reputation and support to help energize alliances for positive change. In February 2002, Jean-Michel became the first person to represent the environment in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. More recently he has been involved with the Jean-Michel Cousteau Fiji Islands Resort, designed to demonstrate an environmentally responsible and culturally appropriate ocean-oriented resort.

Sustainability at Portland State University
The PSU-Smithsonian Aquatic Bioinvasion Research and Policy Institute works to develop a multidisciplinary understanding and management of biological invasions in coastal, marine and freshwater ecosystems. The Institute combines the respective strengths of PSU's Center for Lakes and Reservoirs and the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and seeks to develop novel approaches to research, management and policy on biological invasions.

For more than 30 years, PSU's Environmental Sciences and Resources program has offered students a multidisciplinary approach to analyzing and understanding environmental systems, predicting environmental change, and participating in the management of the environment. Faculty members in the program conduct critical research in the areas of invasive species, limnology, stream ecology, wetlands, watersheds, and related environmental management issues and policies. Both efforts at PSU exemplify its academic sustainability programs, which foster multidisciplinary research and teaching in collaboration with community partners in business, government and other sectors. These and other PSU sustainability initiatives form a foundation to provide leadership for the region in high quality research and education on sustainability issues.

Corporate Responsibility and Nike
Nike targets to contribute three percent of the preceding fiscal year's pre-tax profits annually. In fiscal year 2004 ended May 31, 2004, this totaled $37.3 million in cash, grants and product to eligible charities, non-profit organizations and community business partners around the world. Of that, more than $3.1 million in cash grants and product donations went to hundreds of nonprofits in Oregon, including individual employee contributions of more than $1.1 million, and more than 56,900 volunteer hours in support of causes its employees care about passionately. For more information about Nike's community involvement in Oregon, visit www.nikeinoregon.com. For more information about Nike's environmental programs and overall commitment to corporate responsibility, visit www.nikeresponsibility.com.