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 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.