ecologist

noun

1. A scholar of ecology.

   “Planting trees to combat climate change is a waste of time, according to a study by ecologists who say that most forests do not have any overall effect on global temperature, while those furthest from the equator could actually be making global warming worse.”

   “Once ecologists have more thoroughly identified indoor species, they hope to come up with strategies to scientifically manage homes, by eliminating harmful taxa and fostering species beneficial to our health.”

   “Ecologists say the months of intense and unprecedented fires will almost certainly push several species to extinction.”

2. (uncommon)An environmentalist (one who advocates for the protection of the environment).

   “Protest actions of this type served to take debate, and the Basque ecologists, onto the street and to encourage people to carry out principled actions such as the eco-sabotage at Itoiz.”

   “Despite the accomplishments and the vision of radical ecologists, however, most of the world's power is presently concentrated in economic systems and political institutions that bring about environmental deterioration.”

   “Second, throughout the 1970s, the party Executive guaranteed its support to numerous ecologists’ protest actions, and formed a number of broader umbrella organizations with ecology groups and smaller parties on the Left in order to facilitate communication, share ideas and strategies, and organize and promote common social initiatives on environmental matters.”