Biology Department Faculty
Jeffrey DaCosta
Associate Professor of the Practice
Jeffrey DaCosta
Ph.D.
Contact
Higgins Hall 568
Telephone: 617-552-8945
Email: jeffrey.dacosta@bc.edu
ORCID 0000-0002-8590-2083
Education
- B.S., University of Massachusetts Amherst
- M.S., University of Nevada Las Vegas
- Ph.D., Boston University
Research Interests
Evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, phylogenetics, ornithology
Department
Teaching and Research
My background is in ecology, behavior, and evolutionary biology, and as a teaching-focused professor I strive to foster interest and expand knowledge in these fields. My research focuses on using DNA sequence data to study the generation and maintenance of biodiversity, mainly in birds, which also influences my teaching.
I teach the foundational course Ecology and Evolution, Biostatistics, and also upper-level electives in organismal biology (e.g., Ornithology) and genomics (e.g., Research in Evolutionary Genomics).
Selected Publications
Delmore KE, DaCosta JM, Winker K. 2025. Thrushes in love: extensive gene flow, with differential resistance and selection, obscures and reveals the evolutionary history of a songbird clade. Molecular Ecology. e17635.
Spottiswoode CN, Tong W, Jamie GA, Stryjewski KF, DaCosta JM, Kuras ER, Green A, Hamama S, Taylor IG, Moya C, Sorenson MD. 2022. Genetic architecture facilitates then constrains adaptation in host-parasite coevolutionary arms races. PNAS. 119: e2121752119.
Feng F… (>100 authors)… DaCosta JM… Zhang G. 2020. Dense sampling of bird diversity increases power of comparative genomics. Nature. 587: 252-257.
DaCosta JM, Miller MJ, Mortensen JL, Reed JM, Curry RL, Sorenson MD. 2019. Phylogenomics clarifies biogeographic and evolutionary history, and conservation status of West Indian tremblers and thrashers (Aves: Mimidae). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 136: 196-205.
Peters JL, Lavretsky P, DaCosta JM, Bielefeld RR, Feddersen JC, Sorenson MD. 2016. Population genomic data delineate conservation units in mottled ducks (Anas fulvigula). Biological Conservation. 203: 272-281.
DaCosta JM, Sorenson MD. 2016. ddRAD-seq phylogenetics based on nucleotide, indel, and presence-absence polymorphisms: analyses of two avian genera with contrasting histories. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 94:122-135.
DaCosta JM, Sorenson MD. 2014. An experimental test of host song mimicry as a species recognition cue among male brood parasitic indigobirds (Vidua spp.). The Auk: Ornithological Advances. 131:549-558.
DaCosta JM, Sorenson MD. 2014. Amplification biases and consistent recovery of loci in a double-digest RAD-seq protocol. PLoS ONE. 9:e106713.
DaCosta JM, Klicka J. 2008. The Great American Interchange in birds: a phylogenetic perspective with the genus Trogon. Molecular Ecology. 17:1328-1343.