St Laurent is an evolutionary biologist and entomologist studying the life history and systematics of insects, particularly those of the order Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). His work encompasses poorly known taxa, in particular the discovery and description of new species and their classification, as well as important crop and forestry pests. Much of St Laurent's work is natural history collections-oriented, and essentially all morphological, genetic, and phylogenomic work in his lab uses historical and recently collected material held in museums around the world to better understand insect species and their role in the environment. Lepidoptera is one of the most diverse groups of herbivores on the planet, and therefore St Laurent's lab is particularly focused on understanding why certain species of Lepidoptera eat what they do, what this means in the context of their evolution, how they are distributed, and what potential impacts they may experience due to environmental changes as well as their role impacting agriculture.
