Samuel J. Lane, PhD

I am interested in how animals respond to rapid environmental change through the lens of behavioral ecology, endocrinology, and neuroscience in both captive and free-living animals. 

My doctoral research examined the effects of urbanization on the physiology, behavior, and fitness of wild song sparrows (Melospiza melodia). For my postdoc, I wrote and received an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology to explore how the mechanisms of avian paternal care vary with ecological condition across a latitudinal gradient in North America. 

Through this work, I have become interested in exploring how animals can employ parental care as a tool to mitigate the effects of rapid environmental change, and the mechanisms that underpin these behaviors. Currently, my central interest lies in exploring how neural and endocrine mechanisms of parental care vary with environmental conditions to generate the diverse array of parental strategies observed across bird species. 

*All animals featured were handled safely under the proper local and fedral permits.