Randall received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Biology at University of California at Santa Barbara, and his Ph.D. in Botany from Washington State University.

Employment included community-response-to-fire research in Glacier National Park (Montana, US), and a stint as Research Ecologist with the U.S. Army Engineer developing methods to control melaleuca at Lake Okeechobee (Official Commendation from U.S. Department of the Army).  Having shifted from counting tree rings to wading swamps, Randall joined a team of researchers to develop methods to remove hydrilla from irrigation canals and reservoirs in Imperial Valley, California, for which the group was awarded an Honor Award and a Unit  Award for Distinguished Service from the United States Department of Agriculture…all credit to grass carp. Randall then became the Director of the University of Florida Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, from which he retired in 2007.

Randall served as president of The Aquatic Plant Management Society in 1991-1992.  He served as Treasurer from 1994-1997. He also served as President of the Western Aquatic Plant Management Society, Director for the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology, Scholarship Chairman for the Florida Weed Science Society, and Chairman of the National Invasive Species Council.