ecologist

American  

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

noun

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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Etymology

Origin of ecologist

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

Example Sentences

“The question everybody wants answered we can’t answer because we don’t have the data to do it,” said Adrian Das, research ecologist with the Western Ecological Research Center, as he stood amid the ceanothus.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 13, 2026

Thousands of birds and seahorses were killed as a result, ecologist Vladyslav Belinsky said.

From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026

"Ripple et al. argued that carnivore recovery produced one of the world's strongest trophic cascades," said Dr. Daniel MacNulty, lead author and wildlife ecologist at Utah State University.

From Science Daily • Feb. 12, 2026

Coyotes could be leaving the mainland because the Bay Area is becoming too crowded, Brett Furnas, a wildlife ecologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told the Los Angeles Times.

From BBC • Jan. 30, 2026

"The earth,” wrote the pioneering fire ecologist Edward V Komarek, "born in fire, baptized by lightning, since before life’s beginning has been and is, a fire planet.”

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Related Words

• biologist
• botanist
• conservationist
• environmentalist
• zoologist