On Saturday May 14, 2016 members of the newly formed Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (NRES) Graduate Student Society organized a beach clean-up at Yan-Liao beach, Hualien. The event kicked off with a short opening ceremony at 9:00 a.m. with a welcome address given by NRES Grad Student Society co-founder Geoff Nicki, Prof. Wen-Bing Huang of the College of Environmental Studies, and Mr. Fan Yan-Liao Township Mayor. Present at the event were National Dong Hwa University’s local and international students, faculty, Yan-Liao residents, as well as foreign and local residents of Hualien City. During the event live music was provided by Timothy Seekings and Jennifer Khattar. Participants were enthused about and inspired by the beach clean-up and expressed the hope that it can become an annual event. The group estimates about 40 extra-large bags of trash were collected from along a few hundred meters of the beach.