Since 1999, she has been a consultant with the U.S. Army's repatriation efforts to locate the families of soldiers still unaccounted for from World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.[5] As a genealogist, she is best known for unearthing celebrity roots,[6] conducting forensic research[7] for coroners, police departments, NCIS and the FBI, and championing the use of
DNA testing to learn about one’s ancestry.[8] She researched
Michelle Obama's family tree,[9] researched
Annie Moore, the first immigrant through
Ellis Island,[1] traced
Barack Obama's roots to
Moneygall, Ireland,[10][3][11] and discovered that
Al Sharpton’s great-grandfather had been owned by relatives of
Strom Thurmond.[12] She also found out that Joe Biden is "roughly five-eighths Irish".[13] She, herself, is of Irish and
Rusyn heritage with roots in Ireland, Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine. Formerly Chief Family Historian for
Ancestry.com, she also founded Unclaimed Persons.[14] She is nicknamed the "Indiana Jones of Genealogy".[15] She is a former board member of the
Association of Professional Genealogists (APG).[4]
Author
Smolenyak has authored six books. She has written articles for Ancestry, Family Chronicle, Family Tree Magazine, Irish America, Genealogical Computing, Heritage Quest, NGS NewsMagazine, Everton's Family History Magazine, and APG Quarterly. Smolenyak is also a Huffington Post contributor.[6] Smolenyak conducted research and wrote the companion book for the U.S. version of Who Do You Think You Are?.[16]
She was the winner of writing awards from the
International Society of Family History Writers and Editors and the Bo Peep Award, given by the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists.[21] Smolenyak was awarded the 2010 NGS Award of Merit for her work in advancing responsible genealogy to a broad popular audience.[22]
Works
In Search of Our Ancestors: 101 Inspiring Stories of Serendipity and Connection in Rediscovering Our Family History. Cincinnati, OH: Adams Media Corporation, 2000.
ISBN978-1-58062-317-9[23]
Honoring Our Ancestors: Inspiring Stories of the Quest for Our Roots. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com, 2002.
ISBN978-1-931279-00-0[24]
They Came to America: Finding Your Immigrant Ancestors. San Francisco, CA: Santa Fe Ventures, Inc., 2003.
ISBN978-0-9641403-4-9[25]