Fred Harris has been a plant ecologist and botanist for the Minnesota Biological Survey since 1992, working mainly in the prairie regions of the state. He received a Bachelor's degree in biology from Carleton College and a PhD in Botany from The University of Kansas. He has also planned nature preserves for The Nature Conservancy, coordinated native habitat restorations for Great River Greening, taught high school biology on the Navajo Reservation, and assisted fish farmers for three years in Kenya with the Peace Corps.