What are the differences and similarities between being a conservation biologist and an ecologist?

Forgot to add- They both are a part of the Science field, deal with nature, and work to protect and understand our Earth.

Big question! They overlap quite a lot, I’d see the conservation biologist as a specialised ecologist, more interested in the practical application of ecological principles to a specific set of habitats. You still need to understand how all the components of the biomass in question pass into the system, get changed and come out again, but you have to know a lot more detail about the habitats you’re working with and the life-forms within them. The ecologist is more concerned with developing the concepts and the theory side, and making the theory more accurate so that the ‘applied’ people can get better results. If you’re wondering about either as a future career, study math - they both involve lots of statistical tools! They’re also both subjects that will appeal to people who are fascinated and stimulated by detail, yet are able to move up and down through the levels to see how things change - the satellite/helicopter views of the atmosheric layers and the lands below, and how they interact and why; the tree-tops, the undergrowth and wildlife, the leaf-litter, the soil and undersoils, then there are the more horizontal aspects - water-bodies/grassland/tundra/woodland/forest/mountain/plain/arroyo/etc. The inter-connectedness is completely mind-blowing because you get one picture from a set of measurements - a snapshot, but to understand the dynamics you need to put the snapshots together in your head, to make a movie - then you can think more clearly about how everything changes and why, and for the conservationist, that helps you understand how to keep the balance right for the lives you are stewarding - like with an ant-farm, but much, much bigger… like regulating a mini-planet - quite god-like in one view, but more like a computer game player in another.