Naturist naturalists going naturally in nature
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This is a particular problem here in Italy where the term “naturalist” has the legal meaning of someone with a degree in the natural sciences (@radekwalkowiak). As I have no official qualifications, but have been a “naturalist” all my life by inclination, passion and knowledge, I find it really hard to define myself without giving a false impression. In English, I suppose “amateur naturalist” might just work (or perhaps not), but the equivalent in Italy has negative connotations.
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Virgin/land/forest/snow etc. that is still in its natural state and has not been used or changed by people.
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The very deliberately not-passionate words used in reports for Councils etc use words like intact, unmodified, integrity…I cant think of any words for the quality they have though!
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That would complicate the matter – although some of us do fit that definition, too. So what you are looking for is a word for someone with a lot of interest in, and knowledge of, nature, but lacking an academic credential.
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Me personally I am not. For what I’m thinking of, credentials have no bearing on the matter.
I’d like to thank everyone who has responded.
So far, biophilia seems most related. As does anything to do with wilderness. Perhaps paleo-biophilia or archaic-wilderologist.
Ecology has always been a favorite word of mine. In fact, my degree has ecology in it’s title. :) Maybe paleoecologist. But that’s more about the study of biological relationships using fossils and not really landscapes. PaleoEcoEnvirologist or PaleoEcoEnvirology? Ecology is a great word but as soon as it becomes ecologist (or anything with the suffix “logist”, then it feels too much like a professional title because it’s someone who studies it, and not just someone who also appreciates and loves it.
More like paleo-bio-eco-enviro-philia unless there is another better suited prefix for old or longer than human life time scales.
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If someone does not know what naturalist means, then they are even less likely to know what a new invented term means as well. Naturalist is already a sufficient term to describe amateur scientists, citizen scientists, hobbyists, and in general people who are passionate and enthusiastic about “natural” spaces. I’m not sure why there is such a push in this community to try and think of a new word, besides to try and step away from the spelling of “naturist” which is sometimes confused.
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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.
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I do relate to that even though in a different manner. When I go out in the desert and camp between new Bedouin friends, they usually ask me if I am a “doctor” meaning having a PhD in something. I try to explain that I am definitely not a doctor, Just a naturalist, photographer and also a conservationist (in Arabic) which confuses them a bit. They end up calling me a doctor because it is an easy term, but it does make me feel very uneasy.
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Actually exactly that happens to me in Italy too where many insist on calling me “Dottoressa”, even though I insist I am nothing of the kind. I now think of it as a sort of “honorary title” and just go with the flow :-).
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For a few years after earning my Ph.D., I worked at a research institute in Germany. They informed me that I had to refer to myself as Ph.D. instead of Dr. because of a German law forbidding the use of doctor for foreign Ph.D.s unless the German government had confirmed that the education was equivalent to a German Ph.D. This is a very German sort of law. So 12 years later, I still feel funny about being called Dr.
As for a synonym for naturalist, I feel like naturalist has too many disparate meanings to have any consistent synonym. Is anyone who takes an active interest in any aspect of nature a naturalist?
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You are referring to legal definitions on the one hand, and national ‘habits’ on the other.
While it is true that in Italy a ‘naturalista’ in this day and age identifies a person who has earned a laurea – which ranks somewhere between a bachelor’s and a master’s degree – in natural sciences and is mainly concerned with the study of the interaction of various aspects of nature (botany, zoology, ecology, etc.), the term ‘naturalista’ has however been around for centuries to describe a person who dedicates him/herself to the study of things natural, regardless of whether they get paid for it or just do it for fun. Alexander von Humboldt is a ‘naturalista’ just like David Attenborough or Pliny. The corresponding term in German would be ‘Naturforscher’, literally ‘nature investigator’.
As for that other aspect: In many parts of the world anyone ‘studying’ something tends to get customarily referred to by non-academics as a ‘doctor’, regardless whether they have a degree or not; as Sunbird and lynkos have pointed out. As long as the so-addressed don’t refer to themselves as ‘doctor’ and print that on their business card, they should be fine. :-)
Incidentally, in Italy there is also the concept of “cultore della materia” in academics. Again, it’s both a legal term and a common, descriptive one. Legally, that’s a person who does not have a degree in that particular field (materia), but who has been cultivating it (cultore < coltivare), gaining the respect of academia for their achievements and allowing that person to assist faculty in teaching and giving exams. It’s a title (not a degree) normally bestowed by the university where that person works: https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultore_della_materia
In common speak, however, Lynkos may want to describe herself as both a naturalista and a cultrice della materia. :-)
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Although I have degrees in biology and call myself a biologist, I also use the term naturalist. It does have the suggestion of being an informal student of nature. I have an interest in fauna and flora that were never a part of my formal education, training, or employment in biology so I feel it’s an appropriate word. I have an interest in learning plants but am still fairly ignorant about them so would never call myself a botanist.
I suppose the term natural historian could also apply if you study various aspects of natural history, but most people would probably confuse that with being a student of (human) history or paleontology.
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Perhaps nature observer or wildlife observer would translate more kindly into Italian?
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Welcome to the Forum! Always lots to discuss.
I regards to your comment, traces of Human made chemical are often present in such places. It seems like humans have managed to touch every environment, even the deep seas. Usually not in a good way.
Echoing @silversea_starsong, new names are often not accepted, even if they are more accurate than the old name. In English, Naturalist coveys that someone is interested in ‘Nature’ in a non-professional way. I don’t know how things work in other languages/cultures. I have recently learned that the academic requirements for any degree vary from nation to nation.
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