Genealogy has been my obsession for several decades, and I have broad knowledge of genealogical sources both on and offline. I am a professional genealogist, a ProGen #49 graduate, a public speaker, a blogger, and an author.
I began building my genealogy skills as a teenager by interviewing my great-grandmother, grandmother, and mother about our Nicaraguan roots. I have maintained my family’s oral history for decades. During my marriage, I took on the adventure of researching my husband’s Ukrainian and Polish Jewish immigrant ancestors. I’ve researched my children’s biological origins back to Colonial America and Western Europe, and I’ve accomplished client research in U.S., Canadian, Irish, Swedish, German, and other records covering the 17th to 21st centuries.
Beginning in 2014, I volunteered with the California Genealogical Society, publishing the monthly CGS eNews for eight years and serving on the Board of Directors, including five years as Recording Secretary. I am a member of the National Genealogical Society and the Association of Professional Genealogists.
I am a public speaker, with “LGBTQ Genealogy” and “Excel for Genealogists” among my most popular topics. Since 2018, I have been blogging on LGBTQ genealogy and other subjects, hoping to raise awareness that everyone has at least one queer person in their family tree. Inviting those voices back into our family histories will enrich us all.
In my previous lives, I have been an Internal Medicine physician and a Health Information Technology analyst and manager.
Other Skills and Accomplishments
Speaking Engagement
- 21 October – Excel of Genealogists, Genealogical Society of North Orange County California (GSNOCC)
- 21 March – Excel Basics, Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Washington
- 28 March – Excel Intermediate, Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Washington
- 8 April – DNA and Parentage, Pastfinders
- June – GRIP
- LGBTQ+ Parentage – How do we have children?
- Genetic Donors – Documenting sperm, egg, and embryo donors in your family tree.
- DNA and Parentage – Passing on your DNA doesn’t necessarily make you a parent.
- Fall 2027 – SLIG Virtual Program
I am a member of:
Why Six Generations?
When I discovered my son’s biological paternal line connected to Mayflower passengers Francis Cooke and Samuel Warren, I was thrilled and overwhelmed at the same time. I was happy to have made the connection to a seminal historic event while also thinking this was an awful lot of people to research. When will this family history ever end?
I also needed to make time for researching my daughter’s tree, then circle back to my husband’s and my own trees to see what new discoveries awaited. I need a way to make these monumental projects more manageable. One day, while delving into a pedigree chart, it struck me – take on the research one 6-generation pedigree at a time.
Instead of researching thousands of people over twenty plus generations in confusing layered branches and twigs, I would simplify and concentrate the work six generations. After all, researching 62 people, and their siblings, already present a hefty amount of work.
I further segmented the work to the four family groups based on the four grandparents in the pedigree chart. Focusing the scope of work to six generation clarifies the intergenerational connections.
The idea of six generations also finds support in looking at DNA.
We inherit approximately 50% of our DNA from our biological parents. Although DNA inheritance can vary widely from 37% to 67% according to Blain Bettinger’s “Shared centiMorgan Project”.
Imagine that in your family only 37% of DNA was passed down in each generation. That would mean that in just six generations you would have less than 1% DNA from your 3x Great Grandparent. But the corresponding ancestor of each generation must contribute 63% DNA, making that family line stronger. Very unlikely odds that this would ever happen.
Only with many carefully planned DNA tests might we determine how much DNA was inherited from each past generation. It easier and not inaccurate to estimate 50% inheritance for each generation. With this model then we would still have 3.13% DNA from our 3x Great Grandparents. From the seventh ancestral generation, we would have less than 2% DNA inheritance. Phrased differently, we do not share 98.4% DNA with our 7th generation ancestors.
I like looking at genealogy in groups of six generation because it narrows the scope of work, focuses on closer generational connections and it feels more relative to shared DNA.
