In the past few weeks, naturalists of all stripes have taken to Twitter to share why they study nature, as professionals or amateurs, along with photos of themselves. To learn more about the campaign and why naturalist Kirsten Rowell* launched this grassroots effort to reclaim the title of "naturalist," read posts from Kirsten at the Ecological Society of America's blog from naturalist Nash Turley, and naturalist Chris Buddle.

#IAmANaturalist because my curiosity will never be sated.

#IAmANaturalist because the delight in observing wildlife and in finding things out is unmatched.

#IAmANaturalist because to try and understand a completely different way of living, of being, is to transcend oneself.

#IAmANaturalist because there is beauty everywhere in nature.

#IAmANaturalist because non-human life has as much of a claim on this planet as we do, and to protect it we must understand it.

#IAmANaturalist because the legacy of our species relies on us naturalists sharing the wonder and joy of wildlife with the next generations.

Read more tweets at the #IAmANaturalist hashtag. Share your own stories of being a naturalist!

Header photo by yours truly, taken at the La Selva Research Forest in Costa Rica

*Correction: Original post misstated that the ESA started the hashtag; it was started by Kirsten Rowell, curator of malacology at the Burke Museum of Natural History in Seattle, Washington.