BarbaraRae-Venter is a New Zealand–born American investigative genetic genealogist, biologist, and retired patent attorney best known for her work helping the FBI and other investigators identify Joseph James DeAngelo as the Golden State Killer. She earned a PhD at the University of California at San Diego and later a law degree at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law. Her investigative work earned her a place on the Time 100 list of most influential people and was recognized by the journal Nature as one of “10 People Who Mattered in Science in 2018.”