We don’t often get a chance to attend one of Canadian rockstar genealogist David Pike’s presentations, but the Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador in St. John’s has made it possible to do so online.
The society is sharing access to the presentation, Mitochondrial DNA and its genealogical applications, that Dr. Pike delivered at their meeting earlier this week. During the 75-minute presentation, he talks about what mitochondrial DNA is and isn’t, where it comes from, haplogroups, heteroplasmy, and more. The presentation is following by a short question and answer period.
Dr. Pike is a professor of mathematics at Memorial University who has long had a keen personal interest in genealogy. Since 2004 he has been actively engaged in genealogical DNA testing, through FamilyTree DNA, 23andMe, as well as the Genographic Project. He has coordinated projects at Family Tree DNA based on Y-DNA, mtDNA and autosomal DNA, with the latter concentrating on Newfoundland and Labrador. He is the past president of the Family History Society of Newfoundland and Labrador.
To access the presentation, you must click on the presentation link and then create a username and provide your email address. Within seconds, you should receive an email, providing you with a link to create a password. Check your junk mail if it doesn’t arrive within five minutes.
It took me a couple of tries to access the presentation because I had difficulty figuring out how to reset the password. In the end, I simply accepted the password provided, and then downloaded the PDF of the slides and the audio. The audio begins with the opening of the meeting.
Since I am fairly new at DNA genealogy, the topic was a bit over my head, but it certainly provides a good overview mitochondrial DNA.
