Saturday 15 February 2020

Welcome to this blog


The Pike DNA Project was founded in July 2004.  Within a few months an email mailing list was established at Rootsweb.com so that project members and friends could receive periodic news and updates about the project and its discoveries.  An archive of all messages ever distributed via the mailing list can be found by clicking here.

In March 2020 all mailing lists at Rootsweb will be discontinued.  In order to maintain a means of sharing news about developments concerning the Pike DNA Project, this blog has been created.  Please feel welcome to subscribe in order to receive email notifications when new blog posts are made.

While my intent with this blog is to primarily discuss aspects of genealogical DNA testing as they pertain the Pike surname and its variants, from time to time I may also make posts that do not dwell directly on Pike DNA.  For instance, I may on occasion discuss some non-DNA aspects of Pike genealogy and family history.  Likewise I may occasionally comment on matters of genetic genealogy that are beyond the scope of just the Pike surname.

And to do just that, allow me to say that in November 2019 I made my first proper visit to Ireland when I attended the 9th Genetic Genealogy Ireland conference.  At this conference I gave a presentation regarding mitochondrial haplogroup H5a5, which has been found to occur with high frequency here in my home province of Newfoundland & Labrador, yet it is exceedingly rare elsewhere.  My presentation can be viewed online thanks to Legacy Family Tree Webinars.  Among the many excellent presentations that were delivered at this conference is one by Iain McDonald on the topic of the BigY-700 test offered by FamilyTreeDNA.  The BigY test is a powerful tool for surname studies such as the Pike DNA Project.  As more and more people take this test, I anticipate that there will be a continuing discussion within this Pike DNA blog about the test results and their implications regarding Pike family history.  On that note, please stay tuned, and encourage Pike friends and relatives to participate and ensure that their branches of the family tree are duly represented in the project.

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