Biography – Leo R. Cooper (original) (raw)

Meet a cutting-edge, collaborative scholar at the forefront of historical population genetics– the art and science of ancestry

Leo’s passion for ancestry began in 2016 when he began researching his family history. Fueled by the feeling of uncovering lost context and fostering new connections within his own family, his afterschool pastime became something much more. Shifting his focus to Genetic Genealogy, Leo discovered the means to unlock the biological side of ancestry.

By 2018, Leo was asked to become an administrator for the E-Y14891 project on FamilyTreeDNA. In that role, he developed project management skills including member outreach and funding allocation. This role exposed Leo to how Genetic Genealogy works on the scale of an entire population. He was confronted with the extraordinary potential of supplementing history and genealogy with insights from the growing field of population genetics.

Since then, Leo has developed a network of researchers and supporters that uniquely focus on combining historical and population genetics data. In collaboration with this network, Leo generates novel analyses and datasets that draw upon his expertise in Y-chromosomal and mitochondrial DNA research.

Leo has a BA in Anthropology from Western Michigan University, graduating with Honors and membership in Phi Beta Kappa in 2022.

Leo’s passion for population genetics research has provided a launch pad for his academic and professional success. In 2022, his experience in Ashkenazi Jewish historical population genetics enabled him to contribute to Waldman et al. 2022, a groundbreaking study that focuses on ancient Ashkenazi Jews (see below).

Leo R. Cooper brings excellence and passion into his work. Leo utilizes a variety of historical and population genetic sources to create novel ideas that bring forward the state of knowledge.

Recent published work:

https://www.cell.com/cell/fulltext/S0092-8674(22)01378-2

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/30/science/ashkenazi-jews-genetic-history.html

Schedule a meeting with Leo Cooper

Contact: leo@leorcooper.com