Dr. James A. Duke, PhD, Ethnobotanist, PhD in Botany (UNC, Chapel Hill; Phi Beta Kappa; Distinguished Alumnus), served 3 years with Missouri Botanical Garden, 7 years with Battelle Memorial Institute in Panama, Colombia and Columbus Ohio, as an ecologist; and 27 years as economic botanist, with USDA in Beltsville, Md, On Sept. 30, 1995, he retired from the USDA. Before retiring, Dr. Duke brought his ethnobotanical and phytochemical database online at USDA (http: //www.ars-grin.gov/duke/). It is now, in Dukeâ (TM)s retirement, one of the most frequently consulted areas of the USDA website. Duke serves as distinguished herbal lecturer with the Tai Sophia Healing Institute, Laurel MD. He has written more than 30 books on medicinal plants.