Fact Sheet

“EarthEcho International reimagines the Cousteau legacy of adventure and innovation for today’s youth, educators, and classrooms."

Philippe Cousteau, Jr.
Co-founder and President, EarthEcho International

About EarthEcho International

EarthEcho International is a leading environmental education nonprofit organization dedicated to building and activating a new generation of youth who will solve the most critical problems facing people and the planet. Leveraging our founder Philippe Cousteau, Jr.’s family legacy of exploration and adventure, we provide 21st century tools and resources that empower and equip youth to take action and solve environmental issues starting in their own communities.

• We focus our work in three main areas:  tools for today’s youth; educator resources to transform the science classroom; and hands-on training for educators and their organizations
• In 2014, EarthEcho programs reached more than 350,000 young people
• Virtual events last year engaged 2,300 classrooms around the world
• EarthEcho classroom resources, including all adventure-inspired educational videos, standards- aligned lesson plans, and service learning action guides are provided free of charge to registered educators

About EarthEcho Expeditions

• EarthEcho Expeditions is an annual program that travels the world to engage young people in a voyage of discovery.
• Inspired by the work and legacy of Jacques-Yves Cousteau and Philippe Cousteau, Sr., EarthEcho Expeditions leverage the thrill of adventure to bring science education alive for today’s 21st century learners.
• EarthEcho Expeditions transforms learning for middle- and high-school students through three phases that span a year of youth engagement and community action.
• Expedition-themed classroom resources are available for educators and students to use throughout the year including: documentary style videos; youth-focused service learning videos; how-to videos; webinars; STEM Career Close-up videos; community action guides; lesson plans; educator resources; photo galleries; educator professional development programs; and special virtual events with Expedition experts.
• The program began in September 2013 with EarthEcho Expedition: Into the Dead Zone and an exploration of one of the world’s largest aquatic dead zones located in the heart of the Chesapeake Bay.

About EarthEcho Expedition: Beyond the Dead Zone

• On September 16, 2014, EarthEcho embarked on our second in this series with EarthEcho Expedition: Beyond the Dead Zone. Philippe Cousteau and his team traveled from the agricultural heart of Florida to the reefs of the Florida Keys to explore the impact of ocean acidification and pollution on marine ecosystems.
• Beginning February 10, 2015, Expedition-inspired classroom resources are available for educators and students to use free of charge. These explore how human-driven development and agriculture have impacted Southern Florida’s unique natural ecosystems.
• Young people from schools and youth organizations will be profiled in this year’s Expedition, including students from Rockway Middle School in Miami, FL.
• As part of an exchange program through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and World Learning Inc., youth from Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru worked with South Florida Water Management District scientists to restore a section of the roughly 60,000 acres of Stormwater Treatment Areas.
• EarthEcho Expedition: Beyond the Dead Zone collaborators and partners include: Biscayne National Park; Everglades Youth Conservation Camp; Google; iPrep Academy Magnet School; Miami-Dade County Public Schools; Nature Escapes Eco Tours; The North Face; Rockway Middle School; Source for Learning; South Florida Water Management District; St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center; Toyota USA Foundation; U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs; U.S. Geological Survey; and World Learning Inc.

About the Florida Everglades
Information courtesy of The Everglades Foundation

• The Everglades is home to 67 endangered species
• One out of every three Floridians rely on the Everglades for their water supply
• The Everglades is a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve
• Unlike any other wetland system on earth, the Everglades are sustained primarily by the atmosphere
• Evapotranspiration—the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere—associated with thunderstorms, is the key mechanism by which water leaves the region
• Annual rainfall in the Everglades averages approximately 62 inches

For more information, visit earthecho.org/expeditions and follow us on social media:
Facebook:      www.facebook.com/earthecho
Instagram:     @EarthEcho
Twitter:          @EarthEcho
Google+:       www.google.com/+EarthEcho

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