Robert Freudenberg is vice president of RPA’s energy and environmental programs, leading the organization’s initiatives in areas including climate mitigation and adaptation, open space conservation and park development, and water resource management.

He oversees a comprehensive program of projects and policies to improve public health, quality of life, sustainable development and climate resilience in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan area. Rob works closely with other RPA staff to integrate these objectives with RPA’s economic, transportation, land use, design and community development initiatives.

Rob has been with RPA since 2006 and most recently served as New Jersey director, where he managed the state program with a focus on sustainability planning and policy. He led projects including developing an arts and revitalization plan for Paterson and a neighborhood revitalization plan for East Camden; producing an economic and land use study for a future bus rapid transit corridor in Union County; advancing regenerative design efforts in the New Jersey Highlands; and facilitating land use and urban design recommendations and leading local demonstration projects for the 13-county Together North Jersey effort.

Prior to joining RPA, Rob served as a coastal management fellow at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where he focused on policies for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Rob holds a master’s of public administration in environmental science and policy from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and a bachelor’s in environmental biology from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.