UGA’s Summit of Excellence is an annual event to help genealogy enthusiasts improve their research skills and knowledge. The three-day virtual conference includes a variety of presentations and workshops for all experience levels. The conference begins with a “Getting Started Day,” with a focus on genealogy basics. In the following days, participants can explore more advanced topics through themed tracks like “Records” and “International,” with multiple expert-led sessions happening at the same time. This format lets attendees choose sessions that match their interests. And if participants are interested in more than one session during a time slot, recordings of the sessions will be available for later viewing.
The Summit of Excellence is dedicated to offering educational resources to help participants sharpen their genealogical research skills.
This listing is only for the Getting Started Day. Looking for the full conference? Click here.
Listed times are Mountain Time.
9:00 a.m. The Census Survey: The First Step in Your Research by Janice M. Sellers
10:30 a.m. Writing and Publishing Your Family History: A Beginner’s Guide by Diane Henricks
12:00 p.m. Genealogy 102: Going Deeper with Skills, Sources & Strategies by Lisa Vogele
1:30 p.m. Exploring Methods and Strategies in Autosomal DNA Investigations by Aimee Rose-Haynes
3:00 p.m. Organizing Your Genealogy Research for Beginners: Best Practices for Keeping Track of Sources and Documents by Alina Khuda
4:30 p.m. Smart Starts: AI Tools Every Genealogist Should Know by Edward Swierczewski
The Census Survey: The First Step in Your Research
Presented By: Janice M. Sellers on September 4, 2025 9:00 am
You’ve collected the information you have at home, talked to family members, and begun putting all those facts into a family tree program. But how do you start to do the actual research? One of the best ways is to find family members in the census and get an overview of their lives. We’ll talk about where you can find censuses online and off, techniques for searching, and the information that you’ll find.
Janice M. Sellers is a professional researcher and international speaker whose grandparents told her she is related to actor Peter Sellers and to John of Gaunt, son of a king and father of a king. Unfortunately, they were both wrong, but that’s why she has researched her family for 50 years and now helps others find the right pieces to fit their genealogy puzzles. She specializes in Black, Jewish, forensic, and newspaper research. She has done research and appeared on camera for the television series The Dead Files. Her site is ancestraldiscoveries.com.
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Writing and Publishing Your Family History: A Beginner’s Guide
Presented By: Diane Henriks on September 4, 2025 10:30 am
Discover the fundamentals of organizing, writing, and publishing your family history in this beginner-friendly guide that will equip you with the essential tools to preserve your family’s legacy for generations to come.
Diane Henriks, also known as the Descendant Detective and founder of Know Who Wears the Genes in Your Family, is a passionate and seasoned Los Angeles County-based professional genealogist, investigator, speaker, and author who specializes in descendancy and brick wall research, along with living people search and unknown parentage. Diane has worked closely with private investigators to find living people while also assisting in background investigations, in both civil and criminal cases. She is a proud member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the Genealogical Speakers Guild, the Southern California Genealogical Society, and the Utah Genealogical Association. What started out as a small hobby well over a decade ago, when a hand-drawn family tree chart was given to her by her father, has since become a great obsession, and she now helps others discover and preserve who they are and where they come from!
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Genealogy 102: Going Deeper with Skills, Sources & Strategies
Presented By: Lisa Vogele on September 4, 2025 12:00 pm
Ready to move beyond the basics? You’re mastering the fundamentals, and building a solid foundation for your family history research—but what’s next? Supercharge your genealogy journey and breathe new life into your family history projects. Discover creative ways to maximize tools, dive into overlooked & unknown resources, and refine your approach to uncover new insights. Learn the skills, sources, and strategies you need to take your genealogy journey to the next level!
Lisa Vogele is a professional genealogist and Certified Travel Associate (CTA). She is the Chief Tree Climber at Travel Your Tree: Where Ancestry Meets Adventure, a European family history research, travel planning, custom tour & genealogy research tour operator specializing in Italy & Ireland. Lisa is passionate about traveling in the footsteps of your ancestors to make or re-establish connections of personal, historical significance.
In March 2025, Lisa was named as the first ever recipient of the Association of Professional Genealogists Fellowship for her project to create a Field Guide to Passport Records in Northern Italian Archives. In Spring 2026, she’ll lead a Genealogy Research Tour to Dublin, Ireland, continuing her mission of bringing family histories to life through travel.
In 2016, Lisa authored Food & Folklore: A Year of Italian Festivals, a guidebook to assist travelers with incorporating heritage festivals into their itineraries, get off the beaten path, and experience local culture through food and historic events. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), earned a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University in 2019 and a Certified Travel Associate (CTA) credential. Her travel tips have been featured in the Huffington Post, 1000TravelTips.com, and Dream of Italy. She holds a Master’s degree from Clemson University, was raised in Connecticut, and resides in Colorado.
Follow Lisa’s travels and discoveries: @travelyourtree on Instagram and Facebook
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Exploring Methods and Strategies in Autosomal DNA Investigations
Presented By: Aimee Rose-Haynes on September 4, 2025 1:30 pm
Discover various at-home DNA testing options and their relevance to genealogical research, alongside tools aiding in your investigation. Explore the significance of autosomal DNA, Y DNA, and mtDNA, as well as centimorgans’
importance. Gain insights into methodologies like the Dana Leeds method, Banyan DNA, DNA Painter, and color coding on Ancestry DNA, alongside essential resources to enhance your research endeavors.
Aimee Rose Haynes is a dedicated Cherokee Nation citizen and an accomplished genetic genealogist. With a deep commitment to her heritage and the field of genealogy, Aimee combines her cultural roots with advanced DNA research to explore family histories and ancestral connections. Her work focuses on using genetic testing tools to uncover and document family lineages, with a particular emphasis on Native American ancestry and heritage.
In addition to her genealogical expertise, Aimee is an engaging public speaker, sharing her knowledge and insights with multiple organizations. She has spoken at prominent events such as RootsTech 2024, where she contributed her expertise to a global audience interested in genealogy and genetic research. Through her speaking engagements, Aimee helps to educate and inspire others while advancing the understanding of genetic heritage within indigenous communities.
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Organizing Your Genealogy Research for Beginners: Best Practices for Keeping Track of Sources and Documents
Presented By: Alina Khuda on September 4, 2025 3:00 pm
This presentation provides essential strategies for managing genealogy research efficiently. It covers best practices for documenting sources, organizing digital and physical records, and maintaining a structured family tree. Attendees will learn how to use genealogy software, cloud storage, and research logs to track findings systematically. The session also explores citation techniques, avoiding duplication, and ensuring research accuracy. Ideal for beginners, this talk helps genealogists build a well-documented and easily accessible family history archive.
Alina Khuda has a BA (Hons) and MA (Hons) degrees in Social Studies and Politics, studied in the USA (sponsored by the US government). She participated in GOI Peace Foundation and UNESCO projects from 2009. Moreover she has an extensive experience as a court expert, probate genealogist and a forensic genealogist from 2015. Established KGS (Khuda Genealogical Services) in 2016, with her team of more than 33 onsite correspondents searching missing beneficiaries and documenting family history. She is an expert criminal genealogist for USA courts and was a course editor for International Institute of Genealogical Studies (formerly known as National Institute for Genealogical Studies) in 2020. With a sufficient experience in journalism Alina and her team provide search of unknown relatives and missing beneficiaries for estates in the USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, UK, EU. She did research for government, non-government organizations, attorneys, trustees, companies worldwide as well as numerous private clients. Member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Genealogical SpeakersGuild and Genealogical Organization «Nashi Predky» (NJ, USA)
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Smart Starts: AI Tools Every Genealogist Should Know
Presented By: Edward Swierczewski on September 4, 2025 4:30 pm
There are many AI use cases that can improve our practice: reviewing long documents or research materials and providing summaries in text or database formats; generating titles for our work; taking an outline of facts and developing a story from them; providing hints to move forward past writer’s block; translating documents from one language, reading level, writing style, or historical era to another; reviewing documents to determine if a document meets specific criteria, ex. GPS.
Ed has been a genealogist for almost 30 years, and a professional educator for over 30 years, researching and lecturing in Psychology and Human Services at several major universities and government agencies in New York City. He considers empathy an essential quality for genealogists. He has completed multiple courses from GRIP and SLIG, and is a ProGen alum. He founded Integrative Genealogy LLC and serves as the Chief Genealogical Officer. He is an award-winning genealogical writer and a Laura G. Prescott SLIG Scholarship recipient, and has presented genealogy webinars locally and nationally, at venues both live and virtual, including in-person at RootsTech 2023 in Salt Lake City; recently he has been focusing on the intersection of AI and genealogy. He possesses a deep passion for sharing his knowledge with others, and a commitment to life-long learning.
