What is A Naturalist?

Recently while sitting around in conversation after a program, my co-worker turned to us and said something along the lines of “We’re all naturalists here, I just assumed we all had biology degrees.” It was a beautiful autumn day, and myself and five other naturalists were gasping for air after hours of field trip programming for first graders. We had each spent the morning walking through golden lit forests, building shelters, and finding bats, all while answering the questions of curious minds of of running children. I forget the way we ended up questioning the nature of a naturalist, but am deeply familiar with my co-workers sentiment.

It is something I have encountered numerous times, most frequently in urban areas. It is a sentiment I encountered while talking with a principal of an elementary school in St. Paul, who when I told him I was pursuing a degree in environmental education asked “Ah, so you want to be a science teacher”. Or, there was the time that I was offered a job at a local charter school. When I asked what position I would be taking on, the director of the school answered, “well science, duh!”. There is an assumption present in these statements that a naturalist or environmental educator is in essence a science teacher in an outdoor setting. Some of you reading may share that philosophy. And I understand it. As I write this, I feel entirely silly myself for having taken a very different path into the profession of being a naturalist. A Naturalist IS a science educator, but is also so much more. A Naturalist thinks in history, biology, sociology, art, and all sorts of other fields in order to interlink a community with its ecosystem. So what exactly is a Naturalist?

For now, I think I am satisfied just asking the question. Throwing it out there into the cyber void. Maybe tomorrow I’ll try to describe one thing a naturalist is. Then maybe a couple days later I will describe another thing a naturalist is. For now though, the autumn has ended, and it is time for me to take a walk to Lake of the Isles in new fallen snow, greeting the three cardinals in my bird feeder on the way.