Exploration
I learned to dive alongside my grandfather, Jacques-Yves Cousteau, at the age of seven. Growing up, the ocean served as my immersive classroom. My grandfather introduced the world to the wonder of the seas, and my father, Philippe, helped shape the early language of marine conservation. For them, exploration and protection were always part of the same story.
I was born into a legacy of exploration and ocean advocacy.
As a child, I was driven by a desire for adventure and a deep curiosity to see what lay over the horizon.
That curiosity became a thirty-year journey. Through expeditions, filmmaking, and fieldwork across the Americas, Europe, and the global oceans, I lived alongside the people whose lives are entirely tethered to the water. I saw firsthand how a changing ecosystem ripples through a local economy, how cultural identity is bound to the health of a reef, and how human survival relies on natural balance.
Exploration gave me a deep love for the wild world while teaching me to see the invisible lines connecting nature, community, and capital.
Conservation
As my understanding deepened, so did my desire to protect what I was seeing.
Watching ecosystems change in real-time shifts your sense of what is possible. For much of my career, I focused entirely on the defining framework of the era: conservation.
I partnered with scientists, worked with global NGOs, and advised policymakers to protect species and habitats. Believing that if people knew what was at stake they would change behavior, we used storytelling, global campaigns, and cross-sector partnerships to build a clear bridge of understanding.
We achieved extraordinary milestones and shifted global awareness. Yet, over the years, an emerging reality became impossible to ignore: despite monumental efforts, we were still losing more life in the ocean each year than we could protect.
The conservation movement had become incredibly precise at measuring decline. Now, we needed to become just as effective at reversing it. Protection was essential, but it was no longer enough.
Restoration
Over time, the question I was asking changed.
My work started to evolve from how we protect what remains to how we rebuild what has been lost. That shift led me to restoration: the deliberate design of future abundance, resilience, and long-term value.
Over time, I came to understand that ecosystems do not recover through science alone. Recovery depends on our ability to align communities, institutions, policy, and investment around a shared vision of what is possible.
The greatest challenges of our time are rarely constrained by a lack of ideas. More often, they are constrained by a lack of alignment.
Today, through Oceans 2050, the Blue Cities Alliance and my advisory work, I focus on creating the conditions for restoration to succeed at scale: connecting science, communities, institutions, and capital around measurable outcomes for both people and nature.
Selected Leadership & Impact
Current Roles
Co-Founder & President, Oceans 2050
Co-Founder & Global Chair, Blue Cities Alliance
Senior Advisor, Oceana
Key Honors
Young Global Leader, World Economic Forum
Emerging Explorer, National Geographic Society
Honorary Doctorate, Georgetown University
Global Engagements
Strategic Partnerships | Connecting organizations, cities, and initiatives across ocean restoration, coastal resilience, and long-term value.
Speaking & Convening | Addressing global audiences across investor gatherings, corporate forums, universities, and leadership roundtables.
Field Experience | Leading multi-year expeditions across North America, Central America, Europe, and Africa, grounding my work in firsthand observation.