What it Means to be a Naturalist
While driving to Yellowstone I got to thinking about the last time I was here. It was June of 2005 and I was taking a Leave No Trace Master Trainer Course and then meeting up with my mom for more explorations of the park. After the 4 days of back-country trekking and learning about teaching the LNT principles, my mom and I spent a week touring the park by car. When she got there she said she wanted me to help her 'find' a bunch of different critters: black bear, grizzly, moose, fox, cougar, wolf, and of course the common elk, deer, pronghorn, and bison. I managed to help her find them all except the cougar. At the end of the week she commented on how much wildlife we had seen and how she wouldn't have seen even half of it without me there. I laughed and said, "that's my job!". I didn't mean my job as a daughter but my job as a naturalist. At the time I was getting paid to be a professional naturalist (also: educator, manager, planner, interpreter).
My mom helped me realize just how rare it is for folks to have such keen powers of observation. My folks had always taken us to the mountains and they were no slouches when it came to spotting animals but my skills have been refined over years due to the kind of work I do. Being a naturalist involves so many skills that often cannot be taught in a classroom. I learned the basics as a wildlife biology undergrad at CSU: tracking, wildlife ID, plant ID, etc. But it took years of constantly practicing and using that book knowledge to become a fairly good naturalist. Now besides just knowing what things are I can read a landscape and piece together the story written on the land as well.
I've been doing the nature observation thing for decades and am so grateful for the skill. It helps the parks come alive for me in ways that may not for others. It also reinforces in me the absolute necessity of having skilled naturalists at parks to help others see what is all around them. Without some guidance visitors can miss so much in a park.One aspect of being a professional naturalist that I find so satisfying is that look of amazement or wonder on a person's face when you point out a rare flower, fungus, amazing insect, or nest that they just couldn't see. Once you show them something and share information about the wonders around them you can see them getting excited about looking for more. That passion and excitement for nature is contagious. And when a person has a drive to see and learn more about nature they may be more inclined to be active participants in its conservation. And if I'm being honest, it isn't just about creating more conservation minded people. I just really like helping people find little bits of happiness, beauty and wonder all around them.
My mom helped me realize just how rare it is for folks to have such keen powers of observation. My folks had always taken us to the mountains and they were no slouches when it came to spotting animals but my skills have been refined over years due to the kind of work I do. Being a naturalist involves so many skills that often cannot be taught in a classroom. I learned the basics as a wildlife biology undergrad at CSU: tracking, wildlife ID, plant ID, etc. But it took years of constantly practicing and using that book knowledge to become a fairly good naturalist. Now besides just knowing what things are I can read a landscape and piece together the story written on the land as well.
I've been doing the nature observation thing for decades and am so grateful for the skill. It helps the parks come alive for me in ways that may not for others. It also reinforces in me the absolute necessity of having skilled naturalists at parks to help others see what is all around them. Without some guidance visitors can miss so much in a park.One aspect of being a professional naturalist that I find so satisfying is that look of amazement or wonder on a person's face when you point out a rare flower, fungus, amazing insect, or nest that they just couldn't see. Once you show them something and share information about the wonders around them you can see them getting excited about looking for more. That passion and excitement for nature is contagious. And when a person has a drive to see and learn more about nature they may be more inclined to be active participants in its conservation. And if I'm being honest, it isn't just about creating more conservation minded people. I just really like helping people find little bits of happiness, beauty and wonder all around them.
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