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 50 different names for those who study different aspects of the environment and natural world.
| specialist name | environmental specialism |
|---|---|
| acarologist | ticks and mites (i.e. a branch of entomology) |
| aerologist | air |
| agrostologist | grasses |
| agronomist | agricultural crops |
| araneologist | spiders (i.e. a branch of entomology) |
| arboriculturist or arborist | individual trees (cf. silvologist) |
| autecologist | a single species of an organism (i.e. a branch of ecology) (cf. syecologist) |
| bacteriologist | bacteria |
| biologist | general biology |
| botanist | flowering plants |
| bryologist | mosses, liverworts, and hornworts (cf. lichenologist, pteridologist) |
| cetologist | whales, dolphins, and porpoises |
| chiropterologist | bats |
| climatologist | climate (cf. meteorologist) |
| coleoptorologist | beetles (i.e. a branch of entomology) |
| conchologist | shells and molluscs |
| dendrochronologist | tree rings (dating of wood) |
| dipterist | flies (i.e. a branch of entomology) |
| ecologist | all branches of ecology |
| ethnobotanist | customs and uses of plants by humans (i.e. a branch of botany) |
| ethologist | animal behaviour |
| environmentalist | environment |
| entomologist | insects (all types) |
| epidemiologist | diseases |
| formicologist | ants (i.e. a branch of entomology) |
| geologist | rocks and earth processes over time |
| glaciologist | glaciers |
| heliologist | the sun |
| helminthologist | worms, especially parasitic worms (i.e. a branch of zoology) |
| herpetologist | amphibians (e.g. frogs, snails, newts) and reptiles (e.g. snakes, lizards) |
| hydrologist | water (not only ecological properties) (cf. limnologist) |
| ichthyologist | fish |
| limnologist | fresh water (i.e. a branch of ecology) |
| lepidopterist | butterflies and moths |
| lichenologist | lichens (i.e. a branch of mycology) |
| lithologist | rocks (i.e. a branch of geology) |
| malacologist | molluscs (e.g. snails, clams, octopuses etc.) |
| mammalogist | mammals (i.e. a branch of zoology) |
| melittologist | bees (i.e. a branch of entomology) |
| meteorologist | weather (cf. climatologist) |
| mycologist | fungi |
| marine biologist | marine ecology |
| nephologist | clouds (i.e. a branch of meteorology) |
| odonatologist | dragonflies, damselflies (e.g. a branch of entomology) |
| oologist | eggs |
| orchidologist | orchids (i.e. a branch of botany) |
| ornithologist | birds |
| orthopterologist | grasshoppers and crickets (i.e. a branch of entomology) |
| palaeoecologist | historical environmental conditions (i.e. a branch of ecology) |
| palynologist | pollen |
| parasitologist | parasites |
| pedologist | soils |
| phenologist | timing of natural processes |
| phycologist | algae |
| pomologist | fruit |
| primatologist | primates (e.g. apes, chimpanzees, lemurs, monkeys etc.) |
| pteridologist | ferns, horsetails, clubmosses, and quillworts (cf. bryologist) |
| scatologist | animal droppings or faeces (i.e. a branch of zoology) |
| sexologist | sex |
| silvologist | forests and forest ecosystems (cf. arborist and arboriculturist) |
| synecologist | entire ecosystems (i.e. a branch of ecology) (cf. autecology) |
| thanatologist | death |
| toxicologist | poisons |
| virologist | viruses |
| xylologist | wood (cf. dendrologist) |
| zoologist | animals and their behaviour |
Do you think I’ve missed any? If so, please leave a comment below and I will update the table.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial- NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.
Good spot Dr Mills – took your ‘time’ but now you’re running ‘rings’ round me!
The list is missing ‘Dendrochronologist’ – who studies tree-rings