Andrea Batcho is a professional genealogist based in Northern New Jersey. She graduated in 2003 with a BFA from Washington University in Visual Communications: Advertising Design. She has spent the past few years doing genealogy, finding that it is the perfect match for her love of the computer and visual communication.

Her current personal project is to account for every single person from her 4th great grandparents onward for every single one of her lines. She will present the information in books including photos and a short bio, as well as documentation. Since her maternal lines have been in Cumberland County, NJ, for many years, she has logged countless hours at the NJ State Archives in Trenton. Yes, this means that she is on a first name basis with the security guards and staff!

Andrea has also been documenting more distant cousins "for fun" and now has a gedcom of over 86,000 people posted on Ancestry.com, as well as a few hard drives full of vital records, pictures, and newspaper articles. Over the past two years, she has been working 24/7 to establish herself as a full time genealogist in order to support herself and the catnip habit of her two cats. Her motto is "No cemetery is too big, no repository is too far" because she will do almost anything (even speaking engagements!) in order to keep herself out of "cubicle hell."

Some of her "genealogical good deeds" include using her expertise gained from finding thousands of her living relatives to locate next of kin for Unclaimed Persons in various California county coroners' offices.

Andrea has also raised over $900 for cemetery and archival document preservation for her 4th great grandmother's church by selling CD's with digital images of its records. They are sold to other people looking for their relatives via word of mouth for $15 and all proceeds go to the church. (There is also a trendy flyer in case anyone wants one)

Every year she orders 100 bulbs from American Meadows and plants each one at each of her relatives' graves. Fall 2008 will mark the 4th year that she has done so.

Andrea's professional website with fees and services is www.andreabatcho.com and she can be emailed at andrea@andreabatcho.com