I am a recently retired veterinarian who is now pursuing my botanical interests. When I was a young boy I accompanied my grandfather, an avid botanist, on numerous field trips and developed a strong interest in Natural History. I inherited his love of plants, particularly those of unique natural habitats such as peat bogs and other wetlands. I have a particular interest in bryology and lichenology and have helped with several botanical surveys involving both groups. I have published articles in Evansia on a state rare Sphagnum species new to Rensselaer County NY and recently was a coauthor of a moss and lichen survey of the Dyken Pond Environmental Center where we found two state rare mosses and a liverwort new to Rensselaer County. I help organize a field Botany and Natural History group who meet on Friday evenings during the field season and a moss study group who meet year-round either doing field work or identifying specimens microscopically indoors in the winter months. I also assist in organizing the Andrews Bryophyte and Lichen Foray and the Crum bryology Workshop.