On my recent trip back home for Christmas I noticed that I was constantly asked the following question by friends and family: "So, what do you actually do?" Now this wasn't just a general question, rather it was in reference to my job. I guess I never thought about it, but it makes sense that if you tell someone you're working as a Naturalist they may not know what the hell that actually means you do. Before I became one, I wasn't even completely sure. Often times people nod as if they understand but then they think about it for a second, and out comes the question. I laughed many times (to myself) at the irony of the situation: my boss and most people at work have a hard time grasping what it is I do as well, and I constantly feel like I have to justify my work and even the existence of my position, which is frustrating to say the least, and now I felt as if I was doing the same thing to my family and friends. Not that this question was in any way mean spirited, people were honestly interested in what I did, but the correlation in my mind was unavoidable. My actual job title is Interpretive Specialist, but I long ago gave up telling people this because the confusion and absurdity of responses I received quickly went from amusing to monotonous (Ex.- "Really??? That's cool, how many languages do you know?"). I asked my boss if I could change my job title to Interpretive Genius, but he did not find this very funny, so we agreed to change it to Naturalist, though they still haven't found money in the budget for a new nametag. Anyway, to dispel many peoples' first notion that I am running around the woods naked eating bark and conversing with birds, I found a great video that helps illustrate what I do. Let's just say my guided hikes and presentations are very closely modeled after this video, so if you can't make it out here anytime soon you can still experience the wonder and amazement that I bring to visitors each day during the summer as I guide them through the forest. As a side note, if you don't have time to watch the entire video, at the very least it is well worth waiting for the dancing girls to emerge...