Joining the project is easy and there are different ways to participate. 

To help with the main goals of the project, participants need to be male line descendants of a Burgess family and take a Y-DNA test. The lab used by the project is based in Houston Texas and is called FamilyTreeDNA.

They can be found here: www.familytreedna.com .

The link to the specific tests required by the project is here: www.familytreedna.com/products/y-dna

There are 3 tests that can be used. Y-37 , Y-111, Big Y-700. The preferred test is the Big Y-700 followed by the Y-111. The Y-37 has limitations because distant matches can be inconclusive. The Big Y-700 offers a huge amount of STR (Short Tandem Repeats)  markers like the other tests but adds a crucial component which are the SNPs (Single Nucelotide Polymorphisms). The SNPs are what allow the tester to be mapped onto the Human Tree at a specific location. This is important to the project as we can then determine with certainty if the tester belongs to an established line and who in that line they are closest to. 

As the project has been running for 20 years now we have over 450 participants who have taken a variety of different tests. They range from the original Y-12, Y-25, Y-37, Y-67, Y-111, Big Y-500 and Big Y-700. Not to mention a variety of specialized tests for specific SNPs and SNP packs. A new project member will automaitcally be compared to all of these results.

Another way to join is through the Facebook group BurgessDNA located here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/794558647224226/ many of the people on the Facebook have not tested and others have taken different "autosomal tests" such as the FTDNA product: FamilyFinder as well as tests from other companies like Ancestry, 23andMe and several others.  While these tests are used in genealogical research, they cannot be directly compared to results from Y-DNA testing. Everyone interested in Burgess genealogy is welcome on the Facebook group.

Eric Burgess
Project administrator BurgessDNA