Through Nature in the Neighborhood and Splash Club children and their parents get to meet scientists who live and work in our region as they share what they know and love about exploring life outdoors. These experiences at Splash can open eyes, warm hearts and expand minds to possibilities for their future pursuits.
Many professional scientists in our region work with nature as their job. They make a living practicing science. However, thousands more lay scientists practice scientific investigation as a pastime and study nature for fun. In fact, many lay scientists become experts in their field of interest because they love nature and they love learning about it.
For life-long learners, there is always more to explore and investigate in nature. Many professional and lay scientists spend time sharing their knowledge with young people, hoping that nature exploration will give them the joy that they experience. Most believe that every generation inherits the work (and the fun) of preserving wildlife from the previous generation, and is responsible for passing it on to the next one.
Here are some examples of the fields of study that professional and lay scientists pursue...
Entomology is the study of insects. Aquatic Entomology is
the study of insects that live in the water during all or part of
their lives. Many flying insects such as dragonflies,
damselflies, caddisflies spend their larval youth in a stream,
where they are the primary prey of fish. You can tell a lot about
the quality of the water in a stream by the species living in it.
Botanists study plants. Over 10,000 species of plants live
in California, so a botanist has a lot of studying to do just to
learn to identify them. But botany is more than just knowing the
names of plants. Botanists learn where and when plants bloom,
what pollinates them, and what eats them.
Zoologists study animals but the animal kingdom has too many
animals for one person to know all about. So, most zoologists
focus their study on a particular group of animals.
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