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  • Career Profile: Private Investigator

    Career Profile: Private Investigator

    Many people enjoy mysteries on television or in books. They like the challenge of trying to solve the mystery before the detective does and enjoy learning how the different parts of the story fit together. Some people also like solving mysteries in real life. How would you like to do that for a living and become a private investigator?

    If nothing very exciting happens to you or your friends, it might seem as if there is no mystery in life. A closer look, though, might show that you really have many different puzzles to solve. Suppose that your friend’s bicycle disappears. You could follow the clues and try to find out what happened to it. If one of your family members suddenly started being secretive, you could ask questions to find out why. The information that you get could help you and your family.

    Finding information is the most important part of a private investigator’s job. Some people in this field use their skills to find missing people or to solve crimes. Often, private investigators work together with the police. They might work individually or in a company. Some of the most famous private investigators worked for a company called Pinkerton’s in the United States.

    Many of the people who joined Pinkerton’s were former police detectives, and they used the skills that they had used in their jobs for the new investigations. However, people without that background can also learn the skills of private investigation from books, through courses at a career college, or on the job with other investigators.

    A lot has changed since the first Pinkerton’s detectives, but many of the basic skills are the same. Private investigators still look for information, but some of the tools for doing that have changed. Being able to talk to people and get answers is a very important skill. Sometimes, a person in the investigation might know all of the answers but might not realize it or might not want to admit it. Besides talking with people, private investigators should be able to use various tools such as the Internet or different databases to find information. The tools for each investigation might vary, but many of the basics are still the same.

    Having a good education is useful for private investigation. Many people in this field have degrees in areas such as criminal justice or even science or literature. Almost any area of study can be helpful, and it is important to keep on learning.

    In Canada, all private investigators have to be licensed. This means that they need to pass an exam to show that they know the country’s laws and the techniques of investigation. They should not have a criminal record or be under investigation for a crime. Besides that, they usually need to be healthy and active so that they can walk long distances when they are following people or doing other parts of their work. They should have good memories and be able to keep information organized. For some jobs, they might need to work alone, but being able to work well with others is helpful.

    Some private investigators work in areas like security and background checking. Large companies might hire them to check potential employees to see if they have told the truth in their job applications. Other people might hire them to provide security guards for events like concerts or sports games or possibly to help protect politicians or other famous people. Sometimes, private investigators might also work for individuals, such as people who are looking for family members or who need help with another problem.

    Salaries for private investigators can vary widely, depending on where and how much they work. Some very experienced investigators can earn about $90,000 per year, but the average salary is closer to $35,000. Experience can help, and gaining skill in solving problems is the best way to advance in this career.

    If you love to solve mysteries and are good with people, why not consider becoming a private investigator?

    Bibliography:

    Alberta Learning Information Service. “Occupational Profile: Private Investigator.” https://occinfo.alis.alberta.ca/occinfopreview/info/browse-occupations/occupation-profile.html?id=71003126.

    Career Profiles. “Private Investigator and Detective.” http://www.careerprofiles.info/private-investigator-detective-career.html.

    Discover Criminal Justice.com. “Career Profile: Private Investigator.” http://discovercriminaljustice.com/career-profiles/private-investigator/.

    Neuvoo.ca. “Private Investigator Salary in Canada.” https://neuvoo.ca/salary/private-investigator/.

  • Scientists Work to Solve Mystery of Dying Bees

    Scientists Work to Solve Mystery of Dying Bees

    When a swarm of bees landed on a tree in their yard a few years ago, a David Suzuki Foundation staffer and her husband became accidental beekeepers. They called an apiarist relative who came over and helped them capture the bees, build hives and round up equipment. Now they’re enjoying fresh honey and wax and have developed a fascination for the amazing insects. Staff shared that wonderment when she brought honeycombs and tools to the office for an impromptu lesson on beekeeping and bee behaviour.

    Bees are endlessly intriguing, and incredibly useful to us — and not just for honey and wax. If bees disappeared, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to grow much of what we eat. Bees pollinate crops ranging from apples to zucchini. Blueberries and almonds are almost entirely dependent on them. Some experts say they’re responsible for one of every three bites of food we eat. The economic value of pollination services from honeybees alone is estimated at $14 billion in the U.S. and hundreds of millions in Canada.

    Bees are good pollinators because — unlike some birds and other insects that are after nectar alone — they also seek out pollen, which they use along with nectar to feed the hive. In the process, they transfer pollen from the male part of one flower to the female part of another, fertilizing plants so they can develop seed-carrying fruits. Wild bees and domesticated honeybees are both important pollinators.

    In fact, research indicates wild bees may be more important for food-crop pollination than honeybees. That’s in part because a single species, such as honeybees, is vulnerable to mass disease outbreaks. Wild bees also use a wider range of pollination techniques and visit more plants, and so increase chances of cross-pollination, according to an article in the Guardian.

    Sadly, both wild and domesticated bees are in trouble, and that means we could be, too. Causes of phenomena such as colony collapse disorder and other declines in bee populations are not entirely understood, but scientists are getting closer to knowing why bees are dying. Ironically, much of it relates to agricultural practices. Modern methods of growing food are killing one of our biggest helpers in food production.

    Wild bees also face threats from climate change and habitat loss. A recent study published in Science found half the wild bee species in the U.S. were wiped out during the 20th century. That’s been partly attributed to “an increasing mismatch between when plants flowered and when bees were active, a finding consistent with climate change,” according to the Guardian.

    Causes of honeybee deaths are more complicated. Colony collapse disorder has wiped out millions of hives over the past decade, with pesticide use, parasites and poor nutrition eyed as likely culprits. Scientists from the University of Maryland and U.S. Department of Agriculture recently found pollen collected by honeybees was contaminated with a toxic mix of pesticides and fungicides. It appears the toxins make the bees more vulnerable to a parasite called Nosema ceranae, which is believed to cause colony collapse disorder. Pollen samples contained an average of nine different agricultural pesticides and fungicides, and as many as 21 in one case.

    The European Union has imposed a two-year ban on three neonicotinoids, a class of pesticides thought to be responsible for the dramatic declines in Europe’s bee populations, but only for use on “crops attractive to bees”. However, according to the Maryland study’s lead author, Dennis vanEngelsdorp, quoted in the online news outlet Quartz, “It’s a lot more complicated than just one product, which means of course the solution does not lie in just banning one class of product.”

    We need to get a handle on the toxic chemicals we use to grow food. If our practices kill insects and birds that make it possible to grow crops, we’re defeating their purpose and putting ourselves and the rest of nature at risk. As individuals, we can help bees. Stop using pesticides and join the call to ban the worst ones. Plant bee-friendly plants and gardens, make wild bee “houses” and learn more about our fuzzy, buzzing friends. Like our DSF staffer, you could even adopt a hive.