By Jen Henriquez

Everybody has heard of famous French explorer, conservationist, filmmaker, Jacques Cousteau, right? But have you ever thought about his work being connected to ISB students and their studies?

ISB students had the distinct pleasure of meeting his granddaughter on November 6th, 2013. Celine Cousteau came to ISB to speak with some of the classes who are studying Explorers and Artifacts, but what we all took away from it was much more profoundly connected to what we promote every day at ISB across all of the grades and subjects.

Celine, like many in her family, have found themselves drawn to the legacy created by Jacques Cousteau. Her current work in the Amazon (although her work is not solely focused there), as well as stories from other places in the world, brought to life many of the  attributes we highlight at ISB.

The fascinating displays of images and videos Celine brought with her to show the students how she takes action kept us all engaged. One student concluded, “Now I really want to go to Antarctica!” (never mind the part where you can only stay underwater next to the iceberg for 30 seconds before you freeze!).

Teamwork is key. Everyone sees the person in front of the camera presenting to the audience, in this example Jacques Cousteau, but, as Celine explains, there is a whole crew behind the camera of scientists, engineers, videographers and more who make each expedition a success. Team members have to collaborate and communicate; Divers have to work in pairs for safety and camaraderie.

One lesson that the students squirming in the audience as a video of an anaconda plays might appreciate later on in life: Patience. Celine comments that “You have to have patience and let nature happen”. She tells the students that once she filmed for hours before getting the perfect 5 minutes of footage that she needed for a project.

You can follow Celine and her work on twitter.com/celinecousteau.