Ghost Hunting: How to Investigate the Paranormal

like to consider myself a generalist and educator, though I've mainly focused on field investigation and have been consistently pegged by the media as a "ghost" guy. I started a group/network of field investigators in 1989 (the Office of Paranormal Investigations), essentially to take up the slack from the JFK University Graduate Parapsychology Program. Education in Parapsychology is of tantamount importance to me. I hold an MS in Parapsychology from John F. Kennedy University (1981), was on the Core Faculty of that program from 1983 until its demise in the late 80s, and still currently teach there as an adjunct professor (Media and Publishing). Over the years at JFKU, besides Parapsychology I've also taught Public Speaking, Anthropology, Science Fiction and the Philosophy of Time. I was appointed to the faculty of Atlantic University in 2010, and have been teaching an online Parapsychology graduate course since then. I have been teaching online Parapsychology courses for the Rhine Education Center since 2014, building several of them for the online classroom. The courses are offered either for a grade or for audit. I have been teaching a local and distance non-academic Parapsychological Studies program through HCH Institute in Lafayette, CA since 2005. In January 2012, I was appointed to the Board of Directors of the Rhine Research Center. I am in my second term as President of the Forever Family Foundation (2013-2014 and 2015-2016). I have been on the advisory boards of the Windbridge Institute and the Forever Family Foundation. I've had 9 psi-related books published as of the end of 2015, the most recent of which isESP WARS: EAST AND WEST:An Account of the Military Use of Psychic Espionage as Narrated by the Key Russian and American Players,co-authored by Edwin C. May and Victor Rubel. In late 2015, I releasedSELF-PUBLISHING: IT AIN'T ROCKET SCIENCE, co-authored by mystery writer Richard Wren. I was a columnist for FATE magazine from 1991 to 2004. In the early 80s, I worked as the Public Information and Media Consultant to the ASPR. I've been involved in media coverage and TV series and specials over the years, trying to reign in some of the poor (and downright false) information presented about our field. Lately, I have been working with others across the country to try to bring some sense of connection between the amateur “paranormal community” and those in the scientific field of parapsychology – which I hope will lead to greater support for the field. Encouraged heartily by the late Chuck Honorton, I was a professional magician from the early 80s through the early 90s, when I switched over to mentalism and psychic entertainment (after being pushed to do so by the late Marcello Truzzi) I joined the Psychic Entertainers Association in 1997, and was elected President in 2001 (through 2005), and served on the Board for several more years. I serve as the annual meeting planner. I have occasionally consulted with others in Parapsychology from my perspective as a magician/mentalist (since 1982) and am always open to working with my colleagues in that capacity. I did have a "day job" working as a corporate trainer/presenter for online information provider LexisNexis (1984-2006), have worked managing an electronic journals collection for Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as well as a temp law firm librarian. These days, besides teaching Parapsychology, I offer seminars and coaching on public speaking (www.speakasyourself.com) and social media, as well as work with authors as a book publicity coach. In 2009, while continuing to research a book on Chocolate (which I'll get done one of these days), I completed a Professional Chocolatier course (Ecole Chocolat, Vancouver, BC) and in 2010 began making and selling my first chocolate products (www.hauntedbychocolate.com) and continuing to offer guided chocolate tasting presentations. Finally, I hold a BA in Cultural Anthropology from Northwestern University, where I focused much of my coursework on supernatural / magic folklore and beliefs. My Twitter handles are @profparanormal and @speakasyourself