JGSCT May 2024 Meeting
When: Sunday, May 19, 2024
What Time:
The Program:
"Ashkenazi mtDNA: History, Migration, and Culture" by Leo Cooper.
Leo will explain what mt (mitochondrial) DNA is and how it differs from autosomal DNA. He will then explain mtDNA in the Jewish context and how it can be used in genealogical research.
About the Speaker:
What Time:
- 1:00 pm for a 30 minute schmooze session
- 1:30 pm for the start of the webinar
The Program:
"Ashkenazi mtDNA: History, Migration, and Culture" by Leo Cooper.
Leo will explain what mt (mitochondrial) DNA is and how it differs from autosomal DNA. He will then explain mtDNA in the Jewish context and how it can be used in genealogical research.
About the Speaker:
Leo’s passion for ancestry began in 2016 when he began researching his family history. Fueled by the feeling of uncovering lost context and fostering new connections within his own family, his afterschool pastime became something much more. Shifting his focus to Genetic Genealogy, Leo discovered the means to unlock the biological side of ancestry.
By 2018, Leo was asked to become an administrator for the E-Y14891 project on FamilyTreeDNA. In that role, he developed project management skills including member outreach and funding allocation. This role exposed Leo to how Genetic Genealogy works on the scale of an entire population. He was confronted with the extraordinary potential of supplementing history and genealogy with insights from the growing field of population genetics.
Since then, Leo has developed a network of researchers and supporters that uniquely focus on combining historical and population genetics data. In collaboration with this network, Leo generates novel analyses and datasets that draw upon his expertise in Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA research.
Leo has a BA in Anthropology from Western Michigan University, graduating with Honors and membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 2022.
By 2018, Leo was asked to become an administrator for the E-Y14891 project on FamilyTreeDNA. In that role, he developed project management skills including member outreach and funding allocation. This role exposed Leo to how Genetic Genealogy works on the scale of an entire population. He was confronted with the extraordinary potential of supplementing history and genealogy with insights from the growing field of population genetics.
Since then, Leo has developed a network of researchers and supporters that uniquely focus on combining historical and population genetics data. In collaboration with this network, Leo generates novel analyses and datasets that draw upon his expertise in Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA research.
Leo has a BA in Anthropology from Western Michigan University, graduating with Honors and membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 2022.