A List of Environmental Specialists

Have you ever wondered what an expert of snails or of bats is called? Read on to discover all manner of interesting and unusual names for specialists of environmental subjects and the natural world.

If you study people you are an anthropologist, but if you investigate fish you are an ichthyologist, while if you are into soils you are a pedologist. Did you know there are specific names for experts of individual trees (arborists) vs. forests (silvologists)? Just don’t confuse an insect specialist, or entomologist, with what you will become by reading this, namely an etymologist (someone who studies words)!

Here’s the list of more than 40 different names for those who study different aspects of the environment and natural world.

specialist nameenvironmental specialismaerologistairagrostologistgrassesagronomistagricultural cropsarboriculturist or arboristindividual trees (cf. silvologist)autecologista single species of an organism (i.e. a branch of ecology) (cf. syecologist)biologistgeneral biologybotanistflowering plantsbryologistmosses, liverworts, and hornworts (cf. lichenologist, pteridologist)cetologistwhales, dolphins, and porpoiseschiropterologistbatsclimatologistclimate (cf. meteorologist)dipteristflies (i.e. a branch of entomology)ecologistall branches of ecologyethologistanimal behaviourenvironmentalistenvironmententomologistinsects (all types)epidemiologistdiseasesgeologistrocksherpetologistamphibians (e.g. frogs, snails, newts) and reptiles (e.g. snakes, lizards)hydrologistwater (not only ecological properties) (cf. limnologist)ichthyologistfishlimnologistfresh water (i.e. a branch of ecology)lepidopteristbutterflies and mothslichenologistlichens (i.e. a branch of mycology)malacologistmolluscs (e.g. snails, clams, octopuses etc.)mammalogistmammalsmelittologistbees (i.e. a branch of entomology)meteorologistweather (cf. climatologist)mycologistfungimarine biologistmarine ecologynephologistclouds (i.e. a branch of meteorology)odonatologistdragonflies, damselflies (e.g. a branch of entomology)orchidologistorchids (i.e. a branch of botany)ornithologistbirdspalaeoecologisthistorical environmental conditions (i.e. a branch of ecology)parasitologistparasitespedologistsoilspomologistfruitpteridologistferns, horsetails, clubmosses, and quillworts (cf. bryologist)silvologistforests and forest ecosystems (cf. arborist and arboriculturist)synecologistentire ecosystems (i.e. a branch of ecology) (cf. autecology)thanatologistdeathvirologistvirusesA list of environmental specialists

Do you think I’ve missed any? If so, please leave a comment below and I will update the table.

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