There are two terms which might fill the bill for what to call the
professional amateur. One is ADJUNCT and the other is COLLABORATOR. A
person could be an ADJUNCT PALEOENTOMOLOGIST or a PALEOENTOMOLOGICAL
COLLABORATOR. The Smithsonian Institution uses the COLLABORATOR as in
RESEARCH COLLABORATOR and it works quite nicely.
A bientot,
David
Caretaker of some Eocene insects and a fan of Wolfgang Amadeus...