Jamboree - Meet the Speakers: Joanna L. Mountain, PhD.

Joanna Mountain PhD, is a geneticist with a passion for ancestry genetics and genetic genealogy. She was born in England and traces her ancestry back to England, Ireland, and Scotland. She received her PhD in Genetics from Stanford University and subsequently served on the faculty of the Anthropological Sciences department. Joanna has used genetics to study human prehistory in Africa, southern and eastern Asia, and Europe.

She currently represents 23andMe, a personal genomics company that provides genetic data and tools for exploring ancestry, genealogy, and health. She is interested in finding ways to extract as much genealogical information as possible from a person’s, or family’s, genetic data. She is particularly excited about the future of genetic databases that allow distant relatives to find one another and to extend each others' family trees.

TH009 Thursday June 5, 12:30-2:00 p.m. - Luncheon
Panel Discussion:  Peering into the Future of Genetic Genealogy 
Panelists: AncestryDNA, Joanna Mountain PhD, Bennett Greenspan, and Diahan Southard PhD. Moderator: Blaine Bettinger, JD

TH020 Thursday June 5, 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Putting All the Genetic Pieces Together to Solve Family Mysteries
DNA provides multiple pieces of our ancestral story, and putting together those pieces can be a challenge.  THis presentation will cover the different types of evidence from DNA, as well as some examples of how people have put together the pieces to successfully solve family mysteries or make family discoveries. The focus will be on the interpretive features provided by 23andMe’s Personal Genome Service.