Apr 24, 2009 10:15 am0 views
Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of oceanographer Jacques-Yves Cousteau and founder of Blue Legacy International, visited the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center (NGRREC) in Brighton, IL from April 20 - 22. Cousteau, was gathering film footage for her upcoming documentary, "Expedition: Blue Planet." Ms. Cousteau worked with John Chick, Field Station Director for the INHS and NGRREC, to investigate nutrient-pollution in the Mississippi River due to current farming practices and other sources. To facilitate the learning process for the documentary crew, Dr. Chick also organized a round table discussion for the "Expedition: Blue Planet" group. The round table included representatives from the USDA-NRCS, USEPA, the Nature Conservancy, the Sierra Club and the US Army Corps of Engineers. Dr. Chick and his INHS/NGRREC crew took the Blue Planet Expedition to film on the Mississippi River in various locations, focusing on both healthy sections of this floodplain ecosystem and areas challenged by industrial and agricultural pollution. Expedition members also learned first hand about the risk posed to boaters from the leaping behavior of invasive Asian Carp. Dr. Chick was mentioned in three of the "Expedition: Blue Planet" daily blogs, and was interviewed for the documentary film. Videos from this visit should be posted on the Blue Legacy website in a few weeks.