Description
July 11-15, 2022
Join forensic genetic genealogy experts for this week-long, in-person intensive training in Denver, Colorado.
Attendees will be able to identify the specific tasks required to analyze the DNA profile of a law enforcement case, how to prioritize the best cousin matches to your case, along with practice exercises building a private family tree which will lead to the identification of an investigative lead. Students will also be exposed to more than a dozen advanced tools which will assist them with their difficult cases.
This training includes a discussion of the ethical situations you may be faced with. Communication with matches and with your law enforcement agency will be covered in discussions about best practices to protect the privacy of your work product.
We will be supplementing our studies with excerpts from the book Research Like a Pro with DNA by Diana Elder, Nicole Dyer, and Robin Wirthlin. Their book is aimed at persons researching their personal matches at all DNA websites, some of which law enforcement cannot access. The concepts contained in their book are still relevant to the work we do. Many of the matches to our law enforcement kits will have tested at Ancestry.com or 23andMe.com and understanding those sites and their results will be beneficial.
The class will also tour the state-of-the-art Denver Crime Lab.
Course Overview:
- Day 1: Introduction to DNA terminology and GEDmatch.com Overview; Terms of Service for DNA websites
- Day 2: GEDmatch.com Matches, Genetic Groups, DNA Painter
- Day 3: Genealogy Basics – Introduction to Ancestry.com, Tree Building for Law Enforcement; Research, Genealogy Standards
- Day 4: Genealogy for Use by Law Enforcement (Ownership, Back-Up, WayPoints, Most Recent Common Ancestors, Quick & Dirty Trees)
- Day 5: Matches from FamilyTreeDNA.com; Genetic Affairs, WATO, Investigative Leads
Pre-Requisites:
- Ancestry.com membership
- Newspapers.com membership
- Tier 1 GEDmatch.com membership
- Book: Research Like a Pro with DNA (book or Kindle)
- Familiarity with Excel or Google Sheets
- Computer programs: Family Tree Maker (current version) and Legacy Family Tree (current version) installed on your computer; DNAGEDcom.com client installed on your computer
- Chrome Extension: One2Tree
Instructor:
- Joan Hanlon
Guest Speakers:
- Greggory LaBerge
- Mitch Morrissey
- Kevin Lord
- Matthew Hanagan
