Linda Friar, MPA, AICP

friar Adjunct Faculty
Department of Urban and Regional Planning

Linda Friar has been an adjunct Professor at FAU in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning since 2003. Her area of expertise is environmental policy and planning, but she has taught Sustainable Cities courses as well. She has over 30 years of public policy, communications, and urban planning experience. She currently is the National Branch Chief of Communications and Partnerships for the US Fish and Wildlife Service Fish and Aquatic Conservation program based in Alexandria, Virginia. She was the Chief of Public Affairs for Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks in South Florida from 2006 through 2016, the lead Communications representative on the National Park Service incident management team from 2008 through 2016, supporting several emergency response efforts along the eastern seaboard.

Prior to the National Park position Ms. Friar was Manager of Strategic Planning and Government Relations for the United States Department of the Interior, assigned to the South Florida Ecosystem Restoration Task Force based in Miami. Ms. Friar has been involved in a number of South Florida community development, redevelopment, and ecosystem restoration programs and projects over the past 25 years. She has traveled the many regions of Florida as a speaker and advocate of communities and organizations to support efforts that balance the needs of economic, environmental, and social systems through integrated planning, environmental protection and restoration, improved community design, and intergovernmental coordination.

She is a nationally certified planner through the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP), a former Chairperson of the Broward Section of the American Planning Association, and statewide representative on the Florida American Planning Association Legislative Committee. She served as a board member of the Florida Earth Foundation for five years and volunteers on a number of community boards when time allows.

Ms. Friar holds a B.A. in Political Science/Communications from Florida Atlantic University. She was a graduate fellow through the FAU/FIU Joint Center for Environmental and Urban Problems and holds a Masters in Public Administration, with a specialty in Environmental Growth Management, also from FAU. She is a member of the Public Administration and Political Science National Honor Societies, International Scholastic Honor Society, and National Multi-Discipline Honor Society.