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APG is pleased to announce Luis Ariel Rivera of The Bronx, New York, USA, as this year’s winner of the APG Young Professional Scholarship.

The scholarship is awarded to students or young professionals between the ages of 18 and 35 who aspire to a professional career in genealogy. The scholarship includes registration for the APG Professional Management Conference (PMC) 19–21 October 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a stipend to defray the costs of travel and lodging at the conference.

Rivera specializes in Puerto Rican genealogy, inspired by his own family’s roots on the island. His personal research also focuses on the French territorial islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, the regions of Andalucía and Mallorca in Spain, and using genetic testing to help piece together the untold stories of his ancestors. He is a member of the Sociedad Puertorriqueña de Genealogía, the National Genealogical Society, Comité March du 23 Mai 1998, and APG.

Rivera has completed Boston University’s 15-week Genealogical Research Certificate Program, ProGen’s 14-month study group program, and recently completed GenProof’s 8-week study group program. He earned both his bachelor’s degree in Russian and his master’s degree in Spanish Linguistics at Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont.

For more information about APG’s awards, visit www.apgen.org/cpages/awards.

APG is pleased to announce Adrienne Abiodun of Tampa, Florida, USA, as the winner of the inaugural Kenyatta D. Berry African American Research Scholarship.

The scholarship, which recognizes an aspiring professional with a significant interest in developing a career in African American genealogy, is named for former APG President Kenyatta D. Berry, in recognition of her extensive contributions to the field of genealogy, especially African American genealogy and enslaved ancestral research.

Abiodun is a professional genealogist and a staff genealogist with Legacy Tree Genealogists. Her personal and professional genealogical pursuits span two decades, with areas of expertise in African American genealogy, Deep South U.S. research, lineage societies, and genetic genealogy. She is a member of APG, the Florida Genealogical Society, Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (also serving as a Board member), the Daughters of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the Daughters of the American Revolution. She is also the current president of her local Children of the American Revolution society. Abiodun strives to make genealogy down-to-earth, fun, and attainable by anyone interested in their family history.

The scholarship includes registration for the APG Professional Management Conference (PMC) 19–21 October 2023 in Salt Lake City, Utah, and a stipend to defray the costs of travel and lodging at the conference.

For more information about APG’s awards, visit www.apgen.org/cpages/awards.

On July 27, 2023, APG submitted comments to the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration’s Freedom of Information Act Advisory Committee in support of the Model Determination Letter recently published by the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS). The letter instructs agencies to provide thorough explanations to requesters about things such as how searches were done, or which specific exemptions are being invoked. Based on experiences of APG members, the Association made suggestions for additional ways in which agencies can provide valuable information. Read the comments here: https://silkstart.s3.amazonaws.com/f2f3cafa-3733-4a87-918d-e68dfba1d862.pdf

Date: 14 November 2023
Time: 5:00–6:30 p.m. Eastern Time
Visit www.timeanddate.com for worldwide time equivalents.

Genealogical research reports communicate research results, analysis, and conclusions in a clear, efficient, useful, and accurate way. Learn what it takes to develop a research report that meets standards in the field using different formats and including all necessary components. The discussion will focus on use, different formats, presentation of findings, documentation, and professional appearance.

This event is open to APG members only. Registration information is coming soon.
Please check www.apgen.org under Events/Calendar of Events for updated registration
links.

About the Presenter: Melissa Johnson is a board-certified genealogist with thirteen years of experience as a practicing professional genealogical researcher. Her practice specializes in family history research on New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, British, Irish, Italian, and Eastern European families, as well as forensic genealogy; using DNA to solve difficult genealogical problems; unknown parentage; genealogical writing, editing, and publishing; and genealogical education. Melissa’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals, including the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, and Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey.

Melissa has previously served as editor and a columnist for NGS Monthly. She is the author of the “Adoption and Misattributed Parentage Research” chapter in Debbie Parker Wayne’s Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies. For eleven years, Melissa served as reviews editor for the APG Quarterly. Melissa has designed genealogical courses on a variety of topics for several institutions and organizations, including Boston University, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, the Institute for Genealogy and Historical Research (University of Georgia-Athens), the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, and New Jersey Family History Institute. She is Program Director for Boston University’s Genealogy Studies programs. Melissa has served as a board member, trustee, and on executive boards of several genealogical organizations, and as a mentor in the ProGen Study Group.

Date: 11 October 2023
Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time
Visit www.timeanddate.com for worldwide time equivalents.

The varied work of a professional genealogist involves many different audiences across a range of media. Accessibility matters: ensuring your outputs are suitable for users with disabilities and sensory impairments is paramount. In this seminar, presenter Dr. Sophie Kay will explore practical tips, tools, and training to support you to meet a range of visual, neurological, and auditory needs, whether you’re producing a presentation, writing a report or blog post, or building a website. Examine the implications for accessible provision within the researcher-client relationship and discuss how accessibility can be realized when working and marketing in a digital world.

This event is open to APG members only. Registration information is coming soon. Please check https://www.apgen.org under Events/Calendar of Events for updated registration links.

About the Presenter: Dr. Sophie Kay is a professional genealogist and geneticist at Khronicle and an Associate of AGRA. She is also the “Ancestry and Genealogy Expert” for the UK’s popular “Time Team” archaeology television series. A former cancer researcher, Sophie attained her D.Phil. in Systems Biology from the University of Oxford in 2015, where she also trained in DNA extraction and analysis. Sophie is an experienced educator, international speaker, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. She teaches historical mapping techniques and research methodology at Pharos Tutors, and is the tutor in DNA and Genetic Genealogy at the Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies. She is the creator of the #OccupationOfTheDay hashtag on Twitter, and tackles all manner of family history subjects on her blog, The Parchment Rustler, at www.parchmentrustler.com.