Governor recognizes Maui’s Mike Opgenorth for environmental work
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Mike Opgenorth has been recognized as the Maui County Most Valuable Player for this year's Hawaii Invasive Species Awareness Month.
Gov. Josh Green recognized Opgenorth's efforts on May 28 while signing a proclamation for Hawaii Invasive Species Awareness Month. Opgenorth is the director of the Kahanu Garden and Preserve of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens in Hana.
Since becoming director in 2015, Opgenorth and his team have built a new visitor and education center that welcomes over 7,000 guests, education groups and volunteers each year.
He also has been credited for expanding efforts to restore the coastal hala forest and protect it from invasive species.
The Kahanu program has continued cultivating Hawaii's most threatened native and Polynesian plants, including the world's largest breadfruit collection, and caring for Piʻilanihale Heiau, a National Historic Landmark. Opgenorth also mobilized resources when little fire ants were discovered on the grounds this year.
Opgenorth said his path to conservation began during his pursuit of a business degree at the University of Hawaii Manoa's Shidler College of Business, where a Hawaiian language course introduced him to the deep relationship to aina that is the foundation to life and values in Hawaii.
"I decided that if I was to become a part of this island community, I wanted to do work that was good for this place and in alignment with Hawaii's identity and values," Opgenorth said.
He began learning what he could about the native species, seeking them out on weekend hikes, and added a minor in tropical plant soil science.
Opgenorth recently received his Ph.D. in horticultural science from the Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen.
For more about Kahanu Gardens and Preserve of the National Tropical Botanical Gardens, go to ntbg.org/gardens/kahanu.