He has written and edited several books and articles on slavery, witchcraft, headhunting, mining, human trafficking, and piracy in the Caribbean.
During his employment, he was honored as one of the school's inaugural recipients of the Joseph Plumeri Award, which recognizes the university's faculty for excellence in teaching, research, and community service.
Lane has traveled extensively in South- and Central America and has written, edited, and collaborated in presenting his research on piracy, slavery, gold mining, headhunting, and witchcraft in colonial Ecuador and Colombia.
He has also edited and wrote the introduction for Bernardo Vargas Machuca's work, Indian Militia and Description of the Indies and Defense and Discourse of the Western Conquests, following their translations from Spanish.
Published in Madrid, the two works were training manuals for conquistadors, written in 1599 by Vargas, as an extension of his military service in Italy and South America.