The Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset coordinated a beach cleanup last year.

KAANAPALI – On Tuesday, April 19, marine scientist Tara Owens will give a talk at the Royal Lahaina Resort. Part of the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset’s ongoing conservation series, Owens will give a presentation on coastal erosion challenges in West Maui.

Owens is a coastal hazards specialist with the University of Hawaii Sea Grant College Program and a liaison to Maui County. Partnered with Maui County’s Planning Department, her role is to bring science to planning and permitting by providing technical guidance, consultations, site visits and public outreach with respect to coastal hazards.

Owens also interfaces with state and federal agencies on collaborative projects pertaining to climate, shoreline change and coastal hazards.

The community speaker series takes place during club meetings, which are held on the first, third and fifth Tuesday of the month at the Royal Lahaina Resort in Kaanapali from 5 to 6:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

In related news, residents and visitors are invited to join an Earth Day beach cleanup led by the Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset on Saturday, April 23, from 8 to 9 a.m.

Community volunteers are asked to meet at 8 a.m. at Kahekili Beach (formerly known as Airport Beach), 65 Kai Ala Drive, Kaanapali, at the Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort. Teams of volunteers will clean the beach.

The Rotary Club of Lahaina Sunset will provide trash collection bags, plastic gloves and bottled water for volunteers. The cleanup will last one hour.

“This Earth Day beach cleanup gives those who are concerned about the environment an opportunity to pitch in and do something positive,” said Sandy Schneider, president of the Lahaina Sunset Rotary Club. “It’s part of our club’s ‘Go Green, Keep the Island Clean’ initiative.”

The Lahaina Sunset club is part of the global network of 34,000 Rotary clubs in more than 200 countries and territories, including ten clubs on Maui.

To ensure ample supplies are collected for the cleanup, volunteers are asked to register by calling Lahaina Sunset Rotary Club Community Service Director Liz May at 669-5200.