Synonyms for naturalist

[lynkos]

I’d never actually given the matter any thought until moving to Italy. I often find myself collaborating with “real” naturalists, biologists etc. and one of the first questions I’m asked is always (more or less): what are you?. If I answer “naturalist”, then the response is: from which university did you graduate? And of course, that leaves me feeling as though I’d been trying to con people into thinking I was something I’m not, at least according to the legal definition. Labels are it seems so very important, everywhere I imagine, but perhaps here more than in some other places.