Laos: An emerging frontier for entomological research

This presentation provides an overview of the language, culture, history, geography, ecology, and current research in the country of Laos gained through 8 weeks of an emergent in-country study during the summer of 2012 as part of collaboration between the Center for Lao Studies in San Francisco and the Lao-American College in Vientiane. Discusses potential challenges such as language barriers, communist government regulation, travel accommodations, and unexploded ordinances (UXO) while highlighting future opportunities in emerging crop pests, under-described ecosystems, ethnobotany, entomophagy, Integrated Pest Management, and classical biological control, and the first step of potential PhD research in entomology. Ambitions for further research in Laos are presented.