Lawrence Stritch received his B.S. in Biology at Illinois Benedictine College and both his M.S. in Biological Sciences and Ph.D. in Botany at southern Illinois University at Carbondale. He worked 4 years as a Natural Heritage Biologist for the Illinois Department of Conservation. From 1989 to 1992 he worked as the Forest Botanist/Ecologist for the Shawnee National Forest and from 1992 to 1995 served as the Regional Botanist for the Eastern Region of the U.S. Forest Service and from 1995 until 1998 was detailed to the Joliet Army Ammunition Plant at the Midewin Project Director. From 1998 to 2001 Larry served as the National Botanist for the U.S. Forest Service and from 2001 2005 served as a senior botanist and liaison at the FWS’s National Conservation Training Center. Since June of 2005 Larry is once again serving as the National Botanist for the Forest Service.