Barbara Linstrom

After more than a decade as a writer and producer based on Sanibel, Barbara served as Executive Producer and Digital Media Director at WGCU, the regional PBS/NPR station for 11 years. At WGCU, she managed the launch of social media platforms and the station’s website. She also served as Executive Producer on more than 100 television productions, including “Water Woes,” a 2006 series tracking the historical influences on water quality issues in the region, as well as numerous award-winning historical documentaries, cultural and environmental productions.

While with WGCU, Barbara earned national recognition for her work on strategic digital planning and was selected by PBS to serve on the inaugural Digital Immersion Project in 2017. With a B.S. in International Studies from Miami University and a M.S.J. from the E.W Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, Barbara moved to Sanibel in 1993 after working as a journalist in Italy, Venezuela, and the British Virgin Islands. She has covered water quality and written environmental features as well as stories on SWFL history for many regional publications, including Times of the Islands/TOTI Media, Gulfshore Life magazine, Florida Weekly, the Santiva Chronicle, the Islander, the Island Sun, the Island Reporter, the Captiva Chronicle and the Captiva Current.

Her family first vacationed on Sanibel in 1975 and ever since she’s found the island to be her favorite outdoor refuge. Linstrom has a 17-year-old daughter, Caitlyn, who also enjoys hiking and swimming.