About
Led in the field, by one working entomologist
Sunda's Edge is not a travel agency with a guide on the roster — it is a working field entomologist who also runs the trips.
Background
I completed an MSc in Entomology in 2014, with a dissertation built around a research placement at Cát Tiên National Park in southern Vietnam, based out of Forest Floor Lodge — studying dragonfly (Odonata) ecology in the park's streams, ponds, and flooded forest. That placement turned into seven years working as a guide at the lodge, taking small groups of high-end clients on multi-day trips built around exactly the same field structure you'll see in the Cát Tiên expedition on this site — jungle trekking, wetland tracking, and night walks. Alongside guiding, I gave regular presentations on the park's ecology to visiting school groups.
I went on to pursue doctoral research into dragonfly ecology, continuing the same fieldwork, until my studies were discontinued in 2022. I later moved to South Africa and trained under FGASA's advanced (NQF4) nature-guiding syllabus, passing the written examination with a strong result.
Field record
Two dragonflies I described are still without an established common name — both from Cát Tiên:
- Gynacantha cattienensis Kompier & Holden, 2017
- Lyriothemis pallidistigma Kompier, Holden & Makbun, 2021
I've also published two herpetological notes from the same park, on:
- Dryophiops rubescens (the Red Whip Snake)
- Oligodon ocellatus (the Ocellated Kukri Snake)
How I guide
Groups are capped at four to six people. That's not a marketing number — it's the largest group I can keep genuinely close to the wildlife without the walk turning into crowd control. Every route is chosen for an ecological reason: a river's edge, a forest margin, a change in elevation — the places where two habitats overlap and biodiversity concentrates.
Credentials & safety
- MSc, Entomology (2014)
- FGASA advanced (NQF4) nature-guiding syllabus, South Africa — written examination passed
- Wilderness First Responder — in progress, expected within the next six months
- English (native); Japanese study underway
Where you'll stay
[Placeholder — update once your Kyushu base is confirmed.] Accommodation is chosen for access to the field, not for a lobby. Details for each expedition's specific lodging are listed on that expedition's own page.
