Nicole Elder Dyer

About Nicole Elder Dyer

Nicole Dyer is a professional genealogist specializing in Southern United States research and genetic genealogy. She is the creator of FamilyLocket.com and the Research Like a Pro Genealogy Podcast. She co-authored Research Like a Pro: A Genealogist's Guide and Research Like a Pro with DNA and is an instructor for the study groups of the same name. She lectures at conferences and institutes and previously served as the secretary and publicity chair of the Pima County Genealogy Society. Nicole holds a bachelor's degree from Brigham Young University in History Teaching. At Family Locket Genealogists, Nicole is a project manager, editor, and researcher.

RLP 219: Southern Colonial Research – Maps and the Law

Sep 19, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about the challenges of colonial research in the southern U.S. We discuss two things to help, and a case study. Join us as we talk about annotating historical maps and discovering legal context. Diana shares about our ancestor John Carey Royston, his migration and divorce. Transcript Nicole (2s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 219 Southern Colonial research Maps and the Law. Welcome to Research...

RLP 218: Goldie May Subway Map with Richard Miller

Sep 12, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Richard Miller, developer of the Goldie May research assistant application. He shares a new feature with us called the subway map. This tool is a timeline graph showing locations on the y-axis and times on the x-axis. It helps you see migration over time, spot errors, compare migrations of family members and FAN club members, and more. Transcript Nicole (3s): This is Research Like...

Creating Gephi Network Graphs Part 1: Gather Matches and Prepare Spreadsheets

Sep 9, 2022

Would you like an efficient method to find clusters of DNA matches relevant to your research subject? In this series, I’m sharing the steps to create a network graph using the free, open source Gephi application, available for Windows or Mac. I use Gephi to create network graphs of my AncestryDNA matches, but you can use matches from other companies as well. Throughout this series, I will be using my own matches from AncestryDNA, but...

RLP 217: Joanna West Case Study Part 2

Sep 5, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Nicole’s research findings about Joanna West. This is a continuation of episode 216, where Nicole shared her preparatory steps for using DNA evidence to test the hypothesis that Barsheba Tharp was the daughter of Joanna West. She tells about the deeds and estate records she found for Humphrey Arnold linking him to his children and heirs. She also shares the DNA matches she found who...

RLP 216: Joanna West Case Study Part 1

Aug 29, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Nicole’s research to test the hypothesis that Joanna West was Barsheba Tharp’s mother. She worked on this project for the 4th Research Like a Pro with DNA study group and shares her progress on each step. In this first part, Nicole shares her objective, clustering with Gephi, collaborating with a West researcher, the limitations of using DNA evidence for people who lived in the 1700s, making...

RLP 215: Renewing the AG Credential and SLIG Accreditation Course with Lisa Stokes

Aug 22, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is a discussion with Lisa Stokes about the Accreditation course she and Diana are teaching in 2023 for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy Academy. Diana also talks about the requirements to renew the AG credential and how she fulfilled those. Lisa talks about her plans to renew as well. Transcript Nicole (1s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 215 Renewing the AG Credential and SLIG...

Finding Ancestor Photos with Related Faces

Aug 20, 2022

At the National Genealogical Society Conference this year, I met Tina LaFreniere in the exhibit hall. She was sharing her website, Related Faces. I thought it was neat so I invited her to share more about it here at Family Locket. Enjoy! – Nicole Everyone who embarks on their genealogical journey quickly learns that the path into your family history is full of twists, turns and frustration, but it’s those moments of discovery that bring...

RLP 214: Native American DNA with Roberta Estes

Aug 15, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Roberta Estes, author of DNA for Native American Genealogy. We talk with Roberta about strategies for discovering if the myths in your family about Native American heritage are true. We talk about federal recognition of tribes, documentary research, Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA testing, and using ethnicity paintings of autosomal DNA segments to help isolate Native American DNA. Transcript Nicole (0s): This is Research Like...

RLP 213: Five Takeaways from an Advanced DNA Institute Course

Aug 8, 2022

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Diana’s takeaways from the Advanced DNA Evidence course coordinated by Blaine Bettinger as part of the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. We discuss Big Y-DNA testing, small segments, outliers in the Shared cM Project, confirmation bias, and endogamy. Transcript Nicole (0s): This is Research Like a Pro episode 213 Five Takeaways from an Advanced DNA Course. Welcome to Research Like a Pro a Genealogy Podcast about...

Find More Ancestors with Autosomal DNA by Increasing Coverage Part 2: Barsheba Tharp’s Mother

Aug 5, 2022

In my last post about autosomal DNA coverage, “Find More Ancestors with Autosomal DNA by Increasing Coverage,” I discussed how testing multiple descendants of your research subject can help you find more relevant matches. I shared some examples of applying Paul Woodbury’s coverage formula and the Daniel Arnold project I’ve been working on. Today I have an example of how expanding the coverage of Barsheba Tharp helped solve the identity of her mother. Barsheba Tharp...