ecologist

American  

[ih-kol-uh-jist, ee-kol-] / ɪˈkɒl ə dʒɪst, iˈkɒl- /

noun

• ecologists
  plural

1. a scientist or researcher whose field of study involves the relationships and interactions between organisms and their environment.

   Ecosystem ecologists study how nutrients, energy, and water flow through an ecosystem.

2. an environmentalist.

   Like climate change activists and ecologists around the world, I feel passionately that the issue is crucial to the long-term well-being of the human race.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ecologists
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ecologist

ecolog(y) ( def. ) + -ist ( def. )

Explanation

An ecologist is a scientist who studies how animals and plants interact with their environment. If you spend hours watching television shows about animals, maybe you’ve got an ecologist inside you trying to get out. To be an ecologist, first you have to learn about ecology — the study of organisms and how they relate to their environment. Ecology is a word that comes from the Greek oikos, meaning “house.” Basically, ecologists study the environment like it’s a big house, and all the living creatures in it are roommates. Sounds like a lot of work, and it is.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ecologist ecologists

"Crocodilians, the largest predators in most tropical, subtropical freshwater and brackish environments, are a unique case when it comes to homing behavior," said behavioral ecologist and Adjunct Associate Professor Ru Somaweera, from Murdoch University.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 14, 2026

Shannon LaDeau, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, worked on that study.

From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026

Behavioral and physiological ecologist Ken Armitage, who died in 2022, began his marmot research at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in 1962.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026

Nadya Mirochnitchenko, an ecologist with the project, said the wildlife around the brook had transformed.

From BBC ● Jul. 1, 2026

Roger del Moral, another ecologist, remembered a hike he took only four months after the eruption: “… far from any visible vegetation, I discovered an isolated, yet active ant nest.”

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Homeowner associations and ecologists argued for more lenient rules, saying plants carried health benefits and stricter regulations burdened homeowners.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Davey said DNA swabs were trialled by ecologists from Yorkshire Water and the South Yorkshire Bat Group.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

After studying a few of these, the ecologists concluded that these crossings were more likely to be used by bats if they were well designed and positioned along existing flight routes.

From Slate ● Apr. 28, 2026

Some ecologists argue that residents should be able to keep green plants they say do not pose a major fire threat and bring a plethora of benefits, including bolstering the urban ecosystem.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2026

This painful trade-off is why ecologists argue that any attempt by tropical forest societies to grow beyond small villages has always been doomed to fail.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• biologist
• botanist
• conservationist
• environmentalist
• zoologist