DNA, Genetics, Genealogy: How to Research Your Origins

The popularity of DNA tests like Ancestry, 23andMe, and MyHeritage is ever-expanding, but few takers understand just how much can be learned from the data revealed—far beyond what's seen in tik tok + youtube reveals of people declaring: "I'm 10% Irish" / "6% Korean" / "36% Nigerian" and so on. Every week your pool of DNA matched relatives increases, and discovering not only who your "close" relatives are, but even distant 7th or 8th cousins, can provide key, and often surprising information about your ancestors' origins and journeys.

Meanwhile, documented accounts of births, deaths, and other historic records are being digitized and made available in online and institutional archives around the globe

For this session, I'll teach the fundamentals about how to approach your own research—what DNA tests can offer, the databases you can access, etc.

Please Note: You'll get the most immediate benefit—during the session itself—if you've already taken one or more DNA tests and can therefore access this information during our time together.

Also Important: You are NOT expected to share any information that you may prefer to keep private. The session would, however, benefit from a few participant-volunteers to serve as examples that I can help directly in their process. It's completely up to your own comfort levels, of course!