Gerald Borgia

Gerald Borgia is a Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Maryland's College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences, with affiliations at the Brain and Behavior Institute. His office is located in the Biology-Psychology Building (4239). He earned his Ph.D. in 1978 from the University of Michigan, specializing in the evolution of mate choice, social structure, and sociobiology.

Borgia leads the Borgia Lab, which studies the evolution of mate choice and male display in nonresource-based mating systems, using bowerbirds as a model system. His research focuses on sexual selection, lek mating systems, complex male displays, female mate choice strategies, threat reduction in courtship, and the co-option of display traits. The lab maintains a long-term field site at Wallaby Creek in Australia for studying satin bowerbirds.

Analysis of Borgia's recent publications shows consistent themes in sexual selection and animal communication. His work demonstrates increasing sophistication in experimental approaches, including robotic females, chemical manipulation of bowers, and cognitive testing. Recent articles focus on the role of cognitive ability in mating success, chemical signaling through bower paint, dynamic adjustment of male displays, and the relationship between aerobic capacity and sexual performance.

Borgia actively advises graduate students and maintains a substantial research team. He recruits field assistants for Australian fieldwork and laboratory volunteers for video analysis. His NSF-funded research supports graduate students working on diverse projects including mate searching, juvenile display development, male-female signaling dynamics, and aerobic capacity studies. The lab collaborates with molecular systematists at the Smithsonian Institution and National Zoo.