Carol R. Collier has achieved the planning profession’s highest honor by being named to the prestigious American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) College of Fellows for her outstanding achievements in regional and environmental planning. Fellowship is granted to planners who have achieved certification through the American Institute of Certified Planners, and have achieved excellence in professional practice, teaching and mentoring, research, public and community service, and leadership. Invitations to join the College of Fellows come after a thorough nomination and review process, ensuring the candidate has had a positive, long-lasting impact on the planning profession.
Ms. Collier is currently with the Patrick Center for Ecological Research at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. She is serving as government liaison for the Delaware River Watershed Initiative (DRWI), director of the environmental studies program at Drexel, as well as advising on watershed management and development of more resilient systems for an uncertain future throughout the nation and the world. Prior to her current positions, she served over 15 years as Executive Director of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), an interstate/federal commission that provides a unified approach to water resource management without regard to political boundaries. Earlier in Ms. Collier’s career, she also was Executive Director of Pennsylvania’s 21st Century Environment Commission under Governor Tom Ridge and Director of the Southeast Region of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.
Ms. Collier holds a B.A. in Biology from Smith College and a Masters in Regional Planning from the University of Pennsylvania. She has received numerous awards including the Touchstone Award from the Society of Women Environmental Professionals, the Woman of Distinction Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal, the Mary H. Marsh Medal for exemplary contributions to the protection and wise use of the nation’s water resources presented by the American Water Resources Association, the Bronze Order of the DeFleury Medal awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary’s Delaware Estuary Jonathan Sharp Lifetime Achievement Award.
Ms. Collier is one of 61 inductees into this year’s College of Fellows: http://blogs.planning.org/apanews/2016/02/24/Introducing-the-aicp-college-of-fellows-class-of-2016/. Other planners selected for this year’s FAICP induction include Toby Fauver, Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Transportation at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and David Rouse, Managing Director of Research and Advisory Services at the American Planning Association. This year’s formal induction will take place during APA’s National Planning Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, on Sunday, April 3.
The Southeast Section of the American Planning Association’s Pennsylvania Chapter would like to formally congratulate Ms. Collier on her selection as an AICP Fellow!