Bonus Feature -- by Mark Sproxton

Driving down the highway talking on his cell phone, Lloyd Harris hardly resembles the stereotypical image of a scientist in a white lab coat. The Regina-based entomological consultant now spends more time on the road than in a laboratory setting. "I offer an overload of services," he said, while travelling to Medicine Hat for a meeting on cabbage beetles. "Insects don't always show up when, and where you expect them. If I'm not committed and someone phones, away I go."

After spending 19 years working for Saskatchewan's agriculture department, Harris decided to venture out on his own. "It was one of the best places in North America to get good field experience," he said of his initial entomological job. "Working in government, you try to get (things) done despite the system. This is more enjoyable. Here, you're always working for people who are prepared to provide the resources to do the work."

Despite the freedom the independent status provides, the proprietor of Agview said the job's not for everyone. "It's something that requires a great (number) of contacts in the system, and a fair amount of field experience. For me, the worst thing is finding the time to do the bookkeeping part of the job. I'm still getting into the accounting aspects. That's not my favorite item."

Making a living dealing with bugs never really crossed Harris' mind when he first attended university either. He initially planned to deal with students. "When I started university, I was going to go into education and be a science teacher," he explained. "By the time I finished, most of my friends in education said 'Don't do it,' so I continued on in entomology." After completing a Bachelor of Science in agriculture, Harris then completed a masters with a focus on apiculture (bees).

The teaching aspect has resurfaced, although in other forms. In addition to testing pesticides on insects, photographing all types of bugs, Harris also teaches courses on crop pests and pesticide application. The work is paid for by pesticide companies, the government, and other agriculture businesses. His summers are spent working in, and driving to, field test crops, while the winters are filled with writing and teaching.

In addition to being a federal research entomologist, or a freelance entomologist, those looking for bug work may also become a provincial entomologist and deal directly with problems farmers experience, a university professor, or an urban entomologist and monitors pests in parks, trees and other areas around the city.

"A natural curiosity about the biology of things and where they fit in the ecosystem, and an inclination for outside work in the summer, and inside work in the winter," is a good start for people considering a career in entomology, Harris said.