Duane Friend is the State Master Naturalist and Climate Change Specialist with University of Illinois Extension. He has been with Illinois Extension since 1993. From 2011 to 2022 he served as an Environmental and Energy Stewardship Educator in Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Morgan and Scott counties. From 1997 to 2011, Friend was a Natural Resources Management Extension Educator, and prior to that, he was a unit-based educator. He has also been a County Executive Director for the Farm Services Agency, and a resource conservationist for a Soil and Water Conservation District.

Friend is a member of the Soil and Water Conservation Society (SWCS) and served as president of the Illinois chapter in 1998. He is also a member of the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals (ANREP).

Some of Duane's professional awards include the Honor Award from SWCS, gold and bronze awards from ANREP, and an Excellence in Extension Award for educational programming, a Society Service Award from the Soil and Water Conservation Society. 

Duane Friend provides information and educational programs to adult and youth audiences in the areas of soil quality, weather and climate, energy conservation, and disaster preparedness. These programs provide practical solutions for families, farms, and communities.  He assists families in creating a household emergency plan, farmers with the implementation of soil management and conservation practices, and local government officials and business owners with energy conservation techniques.