Many Americans have been told by relatives that they have Native American ancestry and want to find out if the story is accurate. DNA testing has the capability to help people determine if they inherited any DNA from Native American ancestors. At RootsTech 2020, I attended a class taught by DNA expert Roberta Estes entitled “Native American DNA: Confirming Those Stories.” I am sharing some of the helpful information from Roberta’s class and including links...
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...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to use a research log in your genetic genealogy research. We discuss the sources and methods to include in your log, how to best keep track of your DNA matches, correspondence logs, and tech tools that will help you be efficient. We discuss how to use a database tool called Airtable to help you with big projects where you have a lot of DNA matches...
Have you used DNA test results to help with your genealogy research? Maybe you’ve heard that you can verify ancestors with DNA. Or perhaps you have formed a hypothesis about a brick wall ancestor’s parents and would like to confirm it. You may want to identify the biological parents of a recent relative who was adopted. What is the best way to go about using DNA test results to meet these objectives? What tool could...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is about how to create DNA source citations. We will discuss the importance of citing and saving DNA information, the citation elements described in Genealogy Standard #5, and how to cite DNA matches and tools using this formula. We give several examples of what each element could be, from the DNA testing company name, to the details about an mtDNA haplogroup. Join us to learn about how...
Do you have a tough research question involving autosomal DNA? Do you like visualizing your data? Have you considered using a network graph to see connections between matches? Let me tell you how a network graph helped me break my Dyer brick wall and gave me new avenues for research. Who were the parents of John Robert Dyer? I have been searching for the parents of my husband’s 3rd great grandfather for the last several...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Alice Childs. Alice is a professional genealogist and recent graduate of our Research Like a Pro with DNA study group. She is sharing the DNA research process she used to discover a client’s immigrant ancestors’ origins. She is also sharing the full report, so scroll down to find the link to her services pages where it’s listed as a work sample! We are also...
Today’s episode of Research Like a Pro is an interview with Dana Leeds about her method of color clustering DNA Matches. This is called the Leeds Method. When she first shared her method last year, it became an instant success. The Autocluster reports created at Genetic Affairs and the Collins Leeds method are both based on the Leeds Method of color clustering. Listen in to hear all about the Leeds Method and Dana’s experience doing...
You’ve analyzed your DNA, compared it with family history information and records, and worked diligently to gather information about your family—What’s next? The final step in the Research Like a Pro with DNA process is to write your conclusions and correlate the information in a report. This report may be written to yourself, family members, or clients. It’s a summary of the information about your DNA matches, common ancestors, and verification of biological connections to...
I am new to genetic genealogy. I began to realize several months ago that I needed to add DNA research to my list of skills, so I purchased Ancestry DNA kits for myself and my husband at RootsTech in February. I received my results and didn’t really know what I should do next, so I started reading the articles about DNA right here at Family Locket and listening to all of the Research Like a...
