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 92: The Lost Family – interview with author Libby Copeland

Apr 13, 2020

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Libby Copeland, author of the new book The Lost Family: How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are. We discuss some of the main themes in the book, from ethnicity estimates, the history of genetic genealogy, the use of DNA to solve cold cases, and surprises that come from testing. Libby also shares her own experience with genealogy and DNA testing. Links Link to...

Genealogy Research in the 21st Century Part 4: Learning to Use DNA and Standards

Apr 10, 2020

Before 2000, DNA was not a source genealogists had access to. Now there are over 29 million people in DNA testing databases. This is an enormous change. Like other sources available to genealogists before the advent of advanced technology, we still need to analyze these sources carefully, understand the context, and create research plans. Genealogy standards guide us in our efforts. Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS gave the lecture, “The Advance...

Ideas for Inspiring Children to Love Family History

Apr 9, 2020

Shenley Puterbaugh is the founder of the website inspirefamilyhistory.com. I had the pleasure of meeting her at RootsTech! She is sharing a guest blog post today about how to help children have a discovery experience in family history. I bet you’ll get at least one fresh idea to try from her post. Check out her great ideas at inspirefamilyhistory.com as well! About Shenley Shenley was inspired to love family history when her mom told her...

RLP 91: Finding Your Female Ancestors – Interview with Lisa Lisson

Apr 6, 2020

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to find your female ancestors. We interview Lisa Lisson, the author of the Are You My Cousin? blog. Lisa shares four helpful strategies to get around the common problems encountered when researching the women in our family tree. Join us as we talk about these proven strategies and unique record types (even cookbooks!). Links Researching Female Ancestors? You Can Overcome Those Research Roadblocks! – by...

Genealogy Research in the 21st Century Part 3: Collaboration and Personal Communication

Apr 3, 2020

Do you regularly contact other genealogists when researching? Is there a feeling in today’s world that we don’t need to reach out to others because we can find everything we need on our own? Have the messaging systems at genealogy companies made it more difficult to get in touch with each other, even though advances in telecommunication in the last 40 years should make it easier? Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS...

RLP 90: Goldie May – Research Assistant and Log

Mar 30, 2020

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about Richard Miller’s new chrome extension, Goldie May. The extension logs each website you visit and offers helpful research guidance for research in the United States. Start with a person in your FamilySearch Family Tree, then set an objective. Goldie May advises you where to look for locality information, suggests reviewing the ancestor’s timeline, and reviewing the sources already attached. From there you can set additional tasks...

Courage to Face the Chaos – Helping Children Find Strength From Ancestors

Mar 29, 2020

Have you taught the children in your life about food rationing? Charlotte’s timely post today is about a food shortage role-play activity she did with her children. I love that she taught about her grandmother’s experience with rationing in Hawaii during WWII and tied that together with today’s chaotic circumstances. I wholeheartedly agree with Charlotte that learning about our ancestors surviving troubled times gives us strength when our lives are upturned. I hope you enjoy...

How to Research Like a Pro with Goldie May

Mar 28, 2020

Have you ever wished an automated research log could track all the websites you visit during a research session? Me too. I’m excited to introduce Richard Miller, the developer of Goldie May. This new app helps you keep a research log and offers research assistance. We asked Richard to tell us how his app can help us Research Like a Pro. Here’s his guest blog post. Enjoy! -Nicole p.s. I’m updating this to...

Genealogy Research in the 21st Century Part 2: Overcoming Bad Research Habits

Mar 27, 2020

Technology has made genealogy research more accessible, but how has it impacted our research habits? Depending on when you began your genealogy journey, you may have received your initial research training from family history websites and tree-building services. Searching in online databases and seeking information in record hints have created habits that many researchers now are trying to break. Thomas W. Jones, PhD, CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS gave the lecture, “The Advance of Research...

RLP 89: DNA Report Writing

Mar 23, 2020

Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to write about your genetic genealogy research. After keeping track of your searches in your research log, you are ready to write about what you found in a report. We discuss what to include in the report, how to discuss genetic connections, and ideas for making the report flow. Links DNA Research Reports – the Ultimate Finish by Robin at Family Locket Writing a Research...