Tara Owens is a coastal hazards specialist with the University of Hawaiʻi Sea Grant College Program, and a liaison to Maui County. Partnered with Maui County’s Planning Department, Tara’s 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 weather, shoreline change, and coastal hazards.

Owens earned a bachelor’s of science degree in marine science from Coastal Carolina University, and a master’s degree in coastal geology from the University of Hawaiʻi. She was hired by Hawaiʻi Sea Grant and moved back to Hawaiʻi in 2010 after working for 7 years in the federal government at the U.S. Geological Survey in St. Petersburg, Florida, and then at the NOAA Coastal Services Center in Charleston, SC.