Welcome to the Genealogy Reports Page at NSUWorks. NSU Faculty members, Dr. James Doan, Professor, College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences and Dr. Emily F. Schmitt Lavin, Professor, Halmos College of Arts and Sciences created this site as a repository for research projects in the field of genetics and genealogy.

This site documents genetics and genealogy research primarily conducted by students enrolled in the course, HONR 1000N: Genetics and Genealogy. Schmitt and Doan were inspired by the work of Spencer Wells, particularly when he came to visit NSU as part of the Distinguished Speaker Series on October 26, 2006. They developed this interdisciplinary course and began teaching it for the first time in Fall 2007. They have continued to teach this course on a regular basis ever since. Students explore their own near ancestry, including recent migrations, and their deep ancestry, including the ancestry shared by all humans, set against the backdrop of human evolution.

Projects include the presentation of individual results from ancestral genetics testing, such as was available from the National Genographic Project (2005-2019) and more recently from 23andme.com and ancestry.com. Family history projects include presentation of human haplogroups and generalized migration patterns, as well as recent ancestry traced through genealogical records and family oral traditions. Additionally, there have been three Honors thesis projects that resulted from inspiration gained from this course:

2021, Unearthing and documenting my family history narrative: a generational journey through the lens of genetics and genealogy, Feza Abbas

2015, Investigating African Ancestry in Puerto Rican Individuals via Testing of Mitochondrial and Autosomal DNA to Generate a Personal Phylogenetic Family Tree, Natalie Negrón

2010, Using Genealogical Records and Genetic Markers of the Y-Chromosome, X-Chromosome, and Mitochondrial DNA to Create a Personal Family History Narrative, Lauren Douma

There is also a paper describing some of the findings from students in the Winter 2010 section of HONR 1000N: Genetics and Genealogy- located here:

Doan, James and Schmitt Lavin, Emily F. (2011) "Exploring Identity Through Genetic and Genealogical Research: Development of a Collaborative Course Between Humanities and Biology," Quadrivium: A Journal of Multidisciplinary Scholarship: Vol. 3, Iss. 1, Article 8. Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/quadrivium/vol3/iss1/8

We invite you to enjoy reading the results of research into these family history narratives and genealogies. Perhaps you will be inspired to research your own! How many of your ancestors can you name right now? How many more do you think you might be able to find?

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Submissions from 2023

Decoding my Family History, Parth Shah

Decoding my Family History, Parth Shah

Submissions from 2022

The History of the Panchals, Alisha R. Panchal

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Discovering My Ancestral Roots and the Haplogroup Spread of BRCA1 Mutations, Corinne Renshaw

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In Your Book They All Were Written, Serena Sha

Submissions from 2021

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Tracing my Ancestry, Varun Andrews

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Uncovering the Past: My Family History, Rishma Gattu

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How My Ancestry Has Shaped Me Today, Ashley R. John

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My Family History: A Glimpse Into Mental Health, Stereotypes, and Americanization, Hannah Laufenberg

Genealogy: Chasing My Own Tale, Pooja Patel

Setting the Foundation, Caroline Roy

Submissions from 2020

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Ancestry and Genealogy of the Family of Mazen Bleibel, Mazen Bleibel

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How Genealogy, History, and Mythology Shaped My Ancestry, Nisha Desai

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The Journey of My Ancestors that Led to Me, Mark D. Dowdy

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The History of My Peruvian Roots, Ashley J. Guillen-Tapia

Share Your Story: Sachita Guthula, Sachita Guthula

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The Tale of My Ancestry, Sachita Guthula

The Role of Health in my Maternal Line: The Rekindling of Lost Bonds, Snigdha Marivada

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Climbing the Branches of a Family Tree: The Genealogical Journey of Angelina’s Grandparents, Angelina Santoro

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Traveling Dreams: Nicolette Schneider Ancestry Project, Nicolette A. Schneider

Submissions from 2019

Unearthing the Untold Truth Through Generational Storytelling: A Journey Through Genealogical and Genetic Records to Document My Family History, Feza Abbas

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Rise of Miranda, Wilford M. Miranda

Journey to America: Perspective from a Vietnamese Boat Person, Michelle N. Nguyen

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"I DO" (I Really Don't), Payal N. Patel

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Meredith Pratt Ancestry Project, Meredith M. Pratt

When the Rampersaud and Lachman Family Trees United, Amber M. Rampersaud

Documenting lineages from my littlest descendant to my deep ancestral roots, Emily Schmitt Lavin

My Very Mixed, Large, Cuban-Guatemalan Family, Kathy Yanes Perez