[1] After secondary education at Monson Academy, Morris enrolled at Amherst College in 1888 and received there a bachelor's degree in 1891.
After two years as an assistant in the biological laboratory at Amherst College, he received there an M.A.
[2] From 1896 to 1907 he worked for the public school system of Washington DC, and for the last seven years of his employment there he was the head of the department of biology.
For four years he was a special plant expert of the Department of Agriculture, doing field work in Oregon, along the Great Lakes, and in Iowa.
He was a founding member and active participant in the Washington Biologists' Field Club.