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Department of Conservation and Recreation
Field Zoologist Ellison Orcutt and a snapping turtle in Mathews County.For a field zoologist, the winter and early spring can be hum drum. Ellison Orcutt jokes that he is an “office zoologist right now, studying the flora and fauna of people’s cubes.” His cube is covered in posters of birds and bees and, on the far right of the desk is a box filled with vials, each containing an as yet unidentified bee. On top is the shell of a freshwater mussel. This is the cube of a happy man. For Orcutt, an avid birder, some say one of the best in the state, this is the job he has dreamed of. The job asks a lot of him and he isn’t complaining.
Orcutt was a typical boy growing up near the James River on Richmond’s Southside. He played in the creeks and chased frogs and turtles till dinner time. He also spent time at his granddad’s Potomac home where he crabbed and played in the salt marsh. “Nature always interested me more than I was ever able to satisfy as a kid,” said Orcutt.
As an adult, Orcutt is a constant birder but, unlike most birders, his early years were not filled with binoculars and bird books. Orcutt noted that, “As a kid, I didn’t think anything about birds because birds aren’t easy to catch or see.” That all changed during his tenure at Virginia Tech when a freshman class required the purchase of binoculars and a bird guide instead of a text book. Then came an ornithology class field trip that officially got him hooked on birding.
“We saw a male hooded merganser on the New River. I vividly remember getting out of the van. I pulled the big door open and jumped out and thought, ‘Wow, that’s a real thing.’ I never knew it existed, and it was right here. That was all she wrote,” stated Orcutt.
After graduation, he traveled the country preaching a gospel of biodiversity and conservation to whoever would listen. He worked in Montana, led birding trips in Massachusetts, counted whales in the Gulf of Mexico, worked briefly in West Virginia and Florida, and eventually moved to California – on a motorcycle. After leading environmental education classes at a camp in a state park in northern California, he realized his passions were not impactful in the conservation minded West, so, he headed home. As a proud Virginian he stated, “I should be worried about my flora and fauna and my state’s environmental awareness.”
Three years ago, after two separate stints as a lab technician in DCR’s Natural Heritage Program, he got his shot at his dream job, field zoologist. During this time, he hasn’t just counted birds, although he does keep a constant list of birds he’s seen – by county. He’s also participated in freshwater mussel inventories and searched for rare butterflies, and he’s now expanding the fledgling bee program.
Orcutt revels in the challenges that his career presents and always meets them with enthusiasm and curiosity. “One of the best parts of this job, and what our mission is, is that it requires me to do things I wasn’t expecting or planning to do or learn or think about. It has taken me all over the state to places I had never been – my new favorite places.”
As he talks about projects planned for this summer, a bee survey, pollinator research, fresh water mussels, etc., he notes his excitement for the bee program. He hopes that he will have more time to focus on it and gather more information about the 450 native bees across the state and how DCR can work on their protection. “Conservation requires data and knowledge, and we are just getting started with bees.” He also notes that one of his pinnacle work moments was when he recorded a rare bee at one of DCR’s natural area preserves, a species that hadn’t been seen in the state in decades.
During his spare time, you might find him hanging out at Byrd Park or at the T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge embracing the variety of what might fly by. In fact, he even looks for birds when he pumps gas, always keeping an eye to the sky. And at the end of a long day, he enjoys his second job, official taste tester at his fiancé’s bakery.
“I think the exploration of my home state, the discovery aspect, the pursuit of the animal, the butterfly, the bee or rare bird, is quite thrilling,” said Orcutt.
