About Chuck Lura: Chuck has a broad knowledge of “Natural North Dakota” and loves sharing that knowledge with others. Since 2005 he has written a weekly column, “Naturalist at Large,” for North Dakota’s newest newspaper, the Lake Metigoshe Mirror. His columns also appear under “The Naturalist” in several other weekly newspapers across North Dakota. A native of northern Iowa, Lura received an associate degree from Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa. He then went on to receive his bachelor’s degree in biology from South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota. After teaching high school biology in South Dakota and Iowa, he returned to SDSU to obtain his master’s degree and then on for his doctorate in botany from North Dakota State University in Fargo. Lura has been a biology professor at MSU-Bottineau since 1984. His teaching responsibilities have been principally biology, botany, and range management. He has also conducted and published research on ecological aspects of grasslands in the northern Great Plains. Chuck lives at Lake Metigoshe with his wife Mary (LD teacher at Bottineau High School), an Old English sheepdog, two cats, and lots of houseplants. They have three grown children: Erik, John, and Anna Sill. Since childhood Chuck has spent much of his spare time enjoying nature. In his spare time he can often be found exploring North Dakota’s prairies, forest, and waters. He is an avid cross country skier (perhaps compulsive) and cyclist. His other outdoor activities include “botanizing,” as well as canoeing, hunting, and fishing. Natural North Dakota is supported by NDSU Central Grasslands Research Extension Center and Minot State University-Bottineau, and by the members of Prairie Public. Thanks to Sunny 101.9 in Bottineau for their recording services.