About the Genealogist

I come from a small family… or so I thought.

Many years ago, I traveled to Louisville, Kentucky to find my great-grandfather’s gravesite. I asked the cemetery clerk for the location of Christian Roederer’s grave.

“Which Christian Roederer?” he replied.

At that moment, I knew I was onto something big!

Born and raised in Lafayette, Louisiana, I formerly worked as a biostratigrapher (a paleontologist who specializes in identifying microfossils). In fact, I continued my father’s professional legacy in this field.

Believe it or not, biostratigraphy and genealogy are actually quite similar. There’s a certain dedication to preserving history. There’s the attention to the smallest of details. And there’s the gathering of evidence to solve mysteries and bring the past to life.

But it’s not about simply cataloging names, dates, and places. It’s about getting to know your ancestors as the people they were. I’m interested in any and all family folklore… both the good and bad. (There’s usually plenty of both.) The trick is knowing where to look.

I’ve even been able to use my skills to reunite adoptees with their birth families.

To say the least, doing so has created life-changing experiences! Being a part of something so heart-warming and personal has reaped many rewards, not only for those I’ve helped but for me personally. I thrive on discovering those intriguing family stories.

We may not all be descendants of royalty, but each family has a fascinating story waiting to be discovered and shared. Some have been passed down as praise-worthy memories, and some have been hidden.

Each project is a unique journey with an attached history lesson... a journey with personal tragedies, struggles, and joys… a journey of self-discovery.

Whether it’s finding a birth mother, a war hero, an immigrant ancestor, solving a family mystery – or yes, even finding a queen, it’s YOUR story just waiting to be uncovered.

• RootsTech Family History Virtual Conference, 2021
  
  
  • RootsTech is a global family history event, held annually in Salt Lake City. This event is for both beginners and professional genealogists. It is where you can bring people, stories, memories, communities, and families together across generations using the latest technology. Due to COVID, RootsTech went virtual (and FREE) for the 2021 and 2022 conferences. This opened the event to 1.1 million participants from 240 countries and territories. Even more people participated in RootsTech 2022. More than 2,500 sessions are still available to view and will continue to be available for three years after the initial air date. I had the privilege of being selected as one of the speakers for RootsTech 2021. You can view the session here. From March 2-4, RootsTech 2023 will be held in person and virtually! Registration is open now at familysearch.org.
    
    
• Coming to America Lecture Series, Deutsches Haus, New Orleans, 2020-2022
  
  
• Family History Detective Masterclass (42 Seminars), New Orleans, 2020-2022
  
  
• Association of Independent School Libraries Workshop, Metairie, La., 2022
  
  
• Jefferson Parish Library 10-Week Genealogy Lecture Series, Metairie, La., 2020, 2022
  
  
• Algiers Historical Society, Algiers, La., 2022
  
  
• WWII Discussion Group, River Ridge, La., 2022
  
  
• Bridge City Council on Aging, Bridge City, La., 2022
  
  
• St. Tammany Genealogical Society, 2021
  
  
• Jefferson Parish Council on Aging, Metairie, La., 2021
  
  
• Jefferson Parish Genealogical Society, 2020
  
  
• German-American Culture Center, 2020