A plant ecologist, Laughlin has taught in the biology department at Elizabethtown College since 1968 and served as chair of the department several times. He has also served as an environmental consultant for a number of companies and currently works for Porter Consultants, Inc., where he has conducted off-site environmental surveys for Beaver Valley Atomic Power Plant and has participated in environmental impact studies and terrestrial and aquatic surveys.

Laughlin also worked extensively at Three Mile Island before and after the 1979 disaster there. From 1974 through 1980, he coordinated the environmental monitoring program at TMI; in 1980, he coordinated and participated in a survey team monitoring the release of radioactive gas; and he has participated in the development of maps for emergency procedures at TMI. He has also monitored radiation levels as a drill rig searched for deposits of radioactive waste in a land fill and participated in a survey of the fish in streams in the Hershey area as part of an Environmental Impact Statement for a proposed highway expansion.

In addition, Laughlin received during a 10-year period three grants from the National Park Service to investigate the impact of deer on the herbaceous vegetation at Gettysburg National Military Park.

Laughlin is currently conducting research with students on the molecular variation within native species of plants, with particular emphasis on the native violets. His other research interests include vegetational distribution in relation to soil and geologic conditions, biological and chemical changes in aquatic systems, measurements of plant productivity, structural and chemical variations within plant species and environmental monitoring programs.