Dr. Friedl is currently serving as Deputy Director for Research, Engineering and Science Directorate. In addition, he is a member of the JPL Science and Technology Management Council that oversees all of JPL’s internal research and technology development investments.

Dr. Friedl received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1984 prior to accepting a research position at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Dr Friedl's research is focused on gas and particle reactions relevant to the Earth's stratosphere and troposphere. For his early research work he received JPL’s Lew Allen Award for Excellence in 1990. He has authored or co-authored over 50 scientific publications and has participated in a number of international assessments, notably, as lead author for the IPCC Special Report on Aviation and the Global Atmosphere (1999), as contributing author for the IPCC Third Assessment Report on Climate Change (2001), and as co-author on the WMO Scientific Assessment of Ozone Depletion (2002). He has also served as the Research Focal Point for the Emissions working group of the United Nation’s Civil Aviation Environmental Program from 2001 to 2003. More recently, he was a panel member on the National Research Council’s first-ever “Decadal Survey” on Earth Science that was released in January 2007.

In addition to his JPL activities, Dr. Friedl has served several roles at NASA Headquarters. From 1994 to 1996 he was the Project Scientist for the Atmospheric Effects of Aviation Project. During that tenure, he developed and organized numerous research efforts, including several aircraft field campaigns to study aircraft impacts on the upper troposphere. Following his return to JPL, he served as co-mission scientist for the NASA ACCENT airborne field study to investigate aircraft and rocket impacts and served as flight scientist in the CRYSTAL-FACE campaign to study cirrus cloud processes in Florida. For his work on the aviation-related issues he received a NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1997 and a NASA Group Achievement Award in 1999.

Prior to reassuming his current JPL position at the beginning of 2009, Dr. Friedl spent a year and a half at NASA Headquarter as the Deputy Chief Scientist for Earth Science within the Science Mission Directorate (SMD) and as the Deputy for Science within the Earth Science Division of SMD. In those roles, Dr. Friedl was the primary advisor on Earth science issues to the NASA Associate Administrator and Earth Science Director and was tasked with formulating internal strategy for the NASA Earth science program as well as joint strategies with other Federal agencies.