At the age of nine, Celine Cousteau spent two weeks with her grandfather in the Amazon, nursing a pygmy marmoset to health and catching piranha.
I also believe a place chooses you. I don't think we just choose a place. So, somehow the Amazon has chosen me, and I've listened. - Celine Cousteau
Cousteau tells Host Charity Nebbe that being included in the expedition with her grandfather, explorer Jacques Cousteau, cemented her relationship with the Amazon.
Through her Cause Centric Productions, Cousteau is documenting the lives of indigenous people in the Amazon with the film Tribes on the Edge.
Cousteau is also involved in ocean conservation and educating the public about how individual choices impact ecosystems far away from landlocked Iowa, for example. She says choosing sustainable seafood is one step concerned individuals can take to positively impact the ocean. She also says households can reduce the pollution they create through the products they use.
During this Talk of Iowa interview, explorer and Iowan David Thoreson also joins the conversation and talks about his personal connection to the ocean. He and this crew became the first American sailors in history to transit the Northwest Passage from the east to the west in 2007. In 2009, sailing aboard the scientifically-equipped, Ocean Watch, David became the only American sailor to ever navigate the Northwest Passage in both directions.
