Sunday, February 22, 1 pm Pacific
Speaker: John Motzi, PhD
Two-Sibling Visual Phasing with DNA Painter
Description: Visual Phasing can be performed using just two siblings! This methodology uses DNA Painter Chromosome Maps of known matches, combined with inferred segments & traditional visual phasing techniques. It identifies DNA segments shared among siblings and cousins to determine which segments were inherited from which grandparents, even without parent testing.
Using chromosome maps, a larger number of cousin comparisons can be referenced more quickly than with Gedmatch 1:1 comparisons. Since the two-sibling visual phasing problem requires a larger number of cousin comparisons, the use of chromosome maps facilitates the process.
Please note that this is an intermediate level workshop. Prior study is not required but highly recommended. John Motzi has put together 5 short video lessons to help prepare you for this chance of a lifetime presentation. Once registered you will receive detailed information and study materials.
- Intro to Chromosome Mapping (45 minutes video) by Jonny Perl
- Introduction to Recombination (10 minutes video by JM)
- Introduction to the concepts of Visual Phasing (10 minutes video by JM)
- Preparation of the Visual Phasing Worksheet (15 minutes video + materials by JM)
- Overview of Visual Phasing Methodology for Two Siblings (10 minutes video by JM)
About John Motzi
John Motzi, Ph.D., is a retired pharmaceutical research scientist and manager with more than 30 years of industrial experience. He is a passionate amateur genealogist with over twenty-five years of experience, including genetic genealogy since 2013. He has studied at GRIP, is the co-leader of an advanced genetic genealogy discussion group and is a Co-Administrator of the FTDNA T1 mtDNA Haplogroup Project.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, March 8, 1pm Pacific
Speaker: Joe Everett, MLS, AG
Searching for Your Jewish Family from Belarus
Description: Description: Tracing your Jewish family in Belarus has many challenges. The history is complex, with many border changes in a land that has been a battle ground for centuries. The Holocaust devastated Belarusian shtetls and urban Jewish communities.
Records of where they have survived, are scattered in archives in numerous countries and while Belarus and its records began to open up in the 1990s, this was short-lived. Though many records, where they have survived, are preserved in archives and civil registration offices, relatively few are online or indexed and accessing online records is very difficult with the current political situation.
Even when you do find records, there is the challenge of reading them, mostly in Russian and in Cyrillic script. This class will include a survey of the history of Belarus, records types, and the current state of access, with tips for navigating to extant online records as well as suggestions for what to do when records are not online. There will also be some tips for reading records in Russian.
About Joe Everett
Joe Everett is the Senior Librarian for Family History, Local History, and Microforms at the Brigham Young University Harold B. Lee Library. He has over 30 years combined experience at BYU, the FamilySearch Library, and Ancestry.com. He teaches courses in Russian paleography and research in the former Russian Empire/USSR. His past work includes cataloging Eastern European records, content acquisitions and content product, genealogical databases online, including the Hamburg Passenger Lists. Joe earned a degree in Russian Language and in Family History/Genealogy (with a Germanic emphasis) from Brigham Young University. An Accredited Genealogist in German and Russian Empire research, he has lectured and published articles on family history research, historical geography, and migration.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, March 22, 1pm Pacific
Speaker: Alexander Beider, Ed.D., CG
In-Depth Study: Migrations of our Ancestors
Description: Come study the origins of Yiddish as a tool to unravel the history of the Jewish people and how it relates to our ancestral research. Several alternative theories exist about the origins of Eastern European Jews.
It shows us the importance of migrations from Central Europe, implying that ancestors of East European Ashkenazim lived in the Middle Ages primarily in two regions: West German provinces and the Czech lands.
The study of the development of Yiddish allows us to critically evaluate some of these theories. This was the main aim of Beider’s work in “Origins of Yiddish Dialects” (Oxford University Press, 2015).
About Alexander Beider
Alexander Beider holds one doctoral degree in applied mathematics (Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology) and another in Jewish Studies (Sorbonne, Paris). He uses onomastics and linguistics as tools to unravel the history of the Jewish people. He has written a series of reference books dealing with the etymology of Ashkenazic and Sephardic surnames and Ashkenazic given names, all published by Avotaynu Inc. (1993-2019). His book “Origins of Yiddish Dialects,” published by Oxford University Press (2015), sheds light on the early stages of the development of Yiddish. Beider was born in Moscow and currently lives in Paris.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.
Sunday, April 12, 1pm Pacific
Speaker: Todd Knowles
Unlock Hidden Family Records with FamilySearch’s Cutting Edge Artificial Intelligence Technology
Description: This NEW AI-Powered Full-Text Search is a genealogy game changer. Todd Knowles will dive into FamilySearch’s powerful new AI Full-Text Search feature- and show you exactly how to use it to uncover records you never knew existed.
Whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned family historian, this tool can help you break through brick walls by searching the entire contents of historical documents — not just the indexed parts but unindexed documents too. FamilySearch can read through millions of scanned documents such as handwritten records and old letters. AI reads every word, scribble and every note in a document, even if your ancestor’s name was not included in the official index you might not even know the record existed. You can now discover hidden family connections, mentions in court records, names tucked into wills, land deeds, old meeting notes. Just think, you are no longer limited by what’s been manually indexed.
About Todd Knowles
Todd Knowles is a Deputy Chief Genealogical Officer at FamilySearch, where he has been for 23 years. After being introduced to family history at the age of 11, he soon discovered his Jewish roots. The journey to find these Polish Jews has led to the creation of the Knowles Collection (knowlescollection.blogspot.com), six databases that now contain the genealogical records of almost 1.5 million people.
Todd is former President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Utah. Todd has spoken throughout the world and his articles have been widely published.
Non-members pay $5.00 Zoom link will be sent the week of the event. Members automatically receive a Zoom link.