Introduction: George Hanks

Aloha from Texas!
My name is George Hanks and I am truly excited to be apart of the PAA program this year! Although I now live in Houston, I am originally from Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, a small town in the heart of Acadiana bayou country (think gumbo, beignets, crawfish, zydeco music and .. . alas ¼ most recently the oil spill!). I am a volunteer marine sciences educator with the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and I have served as a volunteer educator with the Houston Bar Association’s Lawyers In Public Schools Program. As a volunteer educator, I teach children in under-served Houston communities about our diverse marine resources and the importance of their conservation. I am also an avid scuba diver and amateur underwater photographer and I have been fortunate to travel throughout the Pacific Ocean learning about our island communities and diverse marine resources. I have enjoyed bringing these experiences back to my students in the classroom. As a diver, I have served as a Naturalist On Board on live-aboard dive boats visiting the Flower Garden Banks, teaching divers about what makes our national marine sanctuaries such special and important places for all of us.
After practicing law for 12 years, I served as a district court judge in Houston for two years and for the past eight years I have been serving as a justice on the Texas Court of Appeals, 1st District.
Jacques Cousteau summed up the challenge of marine conservation when he said “People protect what they love” and preserve what they understand. The key to promoting conservation and stewardship of our oceans is showing people how truly interrelated we are on this planet and how the actions of one person affecting our oceans can impact hundreds of lives thousands of miles away in more ways than we can imagine. We need look no further than the recent oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico to see that no matter who we are, where we live, or what our circumstances, our lives and the lives of future generations are inextricably intertwined with the fate of our oceans.
Participation in the PAA program offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the special bond that we all share through the ocean. Among other things, through this program I will not only see first-hand how current international polices have affected our Pacific Ocean resources but I will also be a part of current efforts to preserve these resources for future generations. As part of this experience I will learn about the impact of these policies on the Hawaiian people. I will use this experience and the relationships with my colleagues developed through this program as a catalyst to establish an ongoing “Sister Schools in Conservation” program for middle and high school students. Through this program, students will see that there are names, faces and even entire communities dependent on our conservation efforts and they will develop a greater appreciation of the importance and urgency of conservation efforts world-wide. I want the program to empower these students to take active roles in the stewardship of our oceans and inspire other students to do the same.