C. Lane Scher

PhD candidate in Jim Clark's Lab
Nicholas School of the Environment
Duke University

Email me at lane.scher[at]duke.edu

Follow me on Twitter @lane_scher

I am interested in how environmental conditions influence ecological communities with a focus on the environmental drivers of bird abundances. Currently I am investigating the roles of winter conditions, specifically climate and food availability, in influencing bird abundance and reproductive success.

To address these questions, I apply statistical models to big data to understand patterns at the continental scale.

More about my research

About me

I recieved a Bachelor's degree from the University of Virginia where I majored in Biology and Spanish. While at UVA, I worked in Dr. Ben Blackman's lab researching sunflowers. I also spent a summer as an NSF-REU at Mountain Lake Biological Station, working under Dr. Mikus Abolins-Abols, within Dr. Ellen Ketterson's lab studying Dark-eyed Juncos as part of a long-term project at MLBS. After graduating from UVA, I spent two years at The Morton Arboretum working under Dr. Chuck Cannon, where I studied tree morphology and behavior. I am now a fourth year PhD candidate in Dr. Jim Clark's lab in the Nicholas School of the Environmental at Duke University. The lab studies biodiversity and global change with a focus on forest communities.