{"id":14655,"date":"2025-12-09T15:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T08:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phakhaolao.la\/?post_type=champion&#038;p=14655"},"modified":"2026-02-16T16:49:04","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T09:49:04","slug":"dr-somphouthone-phimmachak-laos-first-herpetologist","status":"publish","type":"champion","link":"https:\/\/phakhaolao.la\/en\/champion\/dr-somphouthone-phimmachak-laos-first-herpetologist\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Somphouthone Phimmachak"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A researcher on the diversity and conservation of in Laos, Dr Somphouthone was already interested in farming as a child. This led her to study agriculture at the National University of Laos (<a href=\"https:\/\/nuol.edu.la\/index.php\/en\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">NUoL<\/a>), but she soon found out that she was more attracted by animals than plants. Thus, she graduated in 2002 with a specialization in animal science.<\/p>\n<p>In 2006, while working at the Living Aquatic Resource Research Center (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.devex.com\/organizations\/living-aquatic-resources-research-center-larrec-115713?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LARReC<\/a>) at the National Agriculture and Forestry Institute (NAFRI), established under the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, she got the opportunity to write a master thesis in biodiversity focusing on the threatened\u00a0Lao Warty Newt (<em>Laotriton laoensis<\/em>). She became the first student to dedicate her thesis to studying the species&#8217; natural history, distribution, and conservation. Thanks to her research the Lao Warty Newt became the first amphibian species officially protected by the Lao government (<a href=\"https:\/\/laoofficialgazette.gov.la\/kcfinder\/upload\/files\/08.25.02.2021.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lao Official Gazette<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Dr Somphouthone pursued her PhD in biology at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ku.ac.th\/en\/community-home\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kasetsart University<\/a> in Thailand, as no such programs were available in Laos. She completed her degree in 2015 and returned to work at the Ministry of Agriculture. However, she missed the fieldwork and research. She remembers: \u201cI wanted to train a new generation of herpetologists in Lao\u201d. Thus, in 2016 she returned to NUoL to continue working on reptile and amphibian biodiversity.<\/p>\n<p>Her research focuses on the provinces of Xaisomboun, Xieng Khouang, Luang Prabang and Houaphane. She participated in research that led to the discovery, in Central Laos, of a new species in the Tylototriton asperrimus group (<a href=\"https:\/\/mapress.com\/zt\/article\/view\/zootaxa.2650.1.2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Stuart et al 2010<\/a>). In 2012 she of the Lao Newt (Laotriton laoensis) (Caudata: Salamandridae)\u201d and In 2015 she published a paper on the morphological and molecular variations in the Tylototriton group in Laos (<a href=\"https:\/\/mapress.com\/zt\/article\/view\/zootaxa.4006.2.3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Somphouthone et al 2015<\/a>). In 2024 she contributed to the discovery of yet another species in Sekong Province.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Somphouthone was named an outstanding researcher in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"template":"","category-actor":[213],"province":[185],"scale":[226],"sector":[229],"topic":[162],"class_list":["post-14655","champion","type-champion","status-publish","hentry","category-actor-academia","province-vientiane-capital","scale-global","sector-research-and-development","topic-agrobiodiversity-conservation-policies-and-initiatives"],"acf":{"pkl_story_headline":"Lao's First Herpetologist: Research on the diversity and conservation of amphibians and reptiles","pkl_story_authors":"Bouavone Thipphavanh and Albrecht 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