2021 Conference Menu
Conference: Home • Registration • Exhibits and Sponsors
Program: Topics & Speakers • TxSGS Live! • Speaker Bios
Conference: Home • Registration • Exhibits and Sponsors
Program: Topics & Speakers • TxSGS Live! • Speaker Bios
Deborah A. Abbott, Ph.D.
A professional genealogist, Deborah A. Abbott, Ph.D., specializes in African American research, manuscript collections, and genealogical methodology. She is a Trustee on the Board of the Ohio Genealogical Society (OGS), a member of the Board of Directors for the Federation of Genealogy Societies (FGS), and a member of the Cuyahoga County Ohio Archives Advisory Commission. An affiliate with the Kentucky-Tennessee Associates, Deborah is past president of the African American Genealogical Society, Cleveland, Ohio, and a retired professor of Counseling from Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland. She holds both the BS and M.Ed. degrees from Tuskegee University in Alabama and the PhD degree from Kent State University in Ohio.
Dr. Abbott is coordinator/instructor of the African American Track and an instructor in Researching in the South and Intermediate Genealogy at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Athens, Georgia, an instructor at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) in Salt Lake City, and the African American Genealogy Colloquium at Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama. She presents lectures and workshops for national, state, and local genealogy conferences across the country, in addition to colleges, businesses, and libraries. She has articles published in the Ohio Genealogy News and Family Tree Magazine. Dr. Abbott was also featured in “Needles & Threads” on Ancestry Academy, an educational video course for Ancestry.com.
Dr. Abbott is a member of National Genealogical Society (NGS), Association of Professional Genealogist (APG), Genealogy Speakers Guild (GSG), as well as other state and local genealogical societies. She teaches a monthly class entitled “Using Ancestry.com in Genealogy Research” at the Lakewood (Ohio) Public Library and coordinates/teaches in the “Genealogy and Family History Clinic” for the Cleveland Public Library.
A Cleveland native, she is a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Tuskegee University National Alumni Association, and Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland, Ohio.
Dannell “Danni” Altman-Newell
A native Kansas Citian, Dannell “Danni” Altman-Newell began her family history research at an early age, courtesy of spending summers watching her maternal grandparents indexing at the local Family History Center. Danni is currently employed as Director of Operations at the National Storytelling Network and serves as a volunteer for the National World War I Museum and Memorial. A graduate of ProGen, Danni loves to gain new knowledge and is passionate about sharing her knowledge through speaking engagements. Danni specializes in the Great War, Fraternal Organization, and Midwest research.
Mic Barnette
Actively engaged in genealogy since the age of twelve, Mic Barnette has written numerous articles that have appeared in many national, state, and local magazines as well as society newsletters and quarterlies. From 1994 to 2004, he penned a widely read, award-winning historical-genealogical column that ran in Houston’s leading newspaper, the Houston Chronicle. Mic has been a library associate in the Genealogy Department of the Dallas Public Library since 2006.
Since the 1980s, Mic has conducted professional genealogical research, taught genealogical classes, and lectured on genealogical topics while residing in New Orleans, Louisiana, Atlanta, Georgia, Houston, and Dallas. His research has taken him to every state of the South, Washington, D.C., and Salt Lake City. He has addressed genealogical organizations in nearly every southern state and presented topics at four National Genealogical Society and Federation of Genealogical Societies conferences.
Mic administers several websites as webmaster, including one containing many of his past columns. Through the Great Galveston Storm website, he is attempting to identify the 5,000 to 10,000 people who lost their lives in the 1900 Galveston Storm. Mic is also the Family Tree DNA administrator and website webmaster for the Barnett, Barney, and Finch Surname Projects as well as the Charles County, Maryland, and Dallas Genealogical Society DNA Projects.
In another project, Mic is in the process of identifying Free People of Color in Texas Prior to the Civil War, African Americans who served with the Confederacy from Texas and a Company History of Co. D 3rd Tennessee Calvary organized in Red River County, Texas. Mic is a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, Sons of the Confederacy, Sons of the American Revolution, and is an Admiral in the Texas Navy.
Nancy Calhoun
Nancy Calhoun has been chasing relatives for over 40 years. Her genealogy journey began at her grandfather’s knee as he told stories of kinfolks in southwest Virginia where they settled before the Revolutionary War.
While in Teacher Corps and graduate school in Kansas, she enrolled in a semester-long genealogy class and has been pursuing family, both her own and other’s, since that time. She found it to be a perfect combination with her bachelor degrees (history, English, and vocational home economics with a minor in photography) and a master’s in curriculum and instruction. With a teaching background and 20 years in newspaper work and publishing, she often used her research skills in the classroom and in writing.
Nancy is the Department Head of Genealogy and Local History at Muskogee Public Library in Muskogee, Oklahoma. She has attended several NGS and FGS national conferences, in addition to area educational opportunities. She was the recipient of the librarian scholarship to attend IGHR and the Richard S. Lackey Memorial Scholarship for the 2017 session of Genealogical Institute on Federal Records. Her writings have placed in the annual contests held by the International Association of Family History Writers and Editors.
Memberships include APG, NGS, Daughters of the American Revolution, United Daughters of the War of 1812, Daughters of the Confederacy, Oklahoma’s First Families of the Twin Territories, First Families of Wythe County, Virginia, and several county and state genealogical organizations. She is a board member of the Oklahoma Genealogical Society. Speaking opportunities take her all over Oklahoma and into Arkansas and Texas. She recently submitted documentation for Mayflower Society, a task that only took her 40 years.
Her personal research includes Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky, as well as Oklahoma.
Esther Camacho
Esther Camacho is a south Texas librarian, genealogist, and a historical researcher. She holds a BA in English from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and a Master of Library Science from Texas Woman’s University.
Esther is knowledgeable in giving genealogy and local history presentations to various organizations and genealogical groups. She recently presented, “Hispanic Genealogy for Non-Spanish Speaking Librarians” at the Texas Library Association Conference 2019 in Austin, Texas and “Inside the Gates: Hidalgo Cemetery 1884” at Quinta Mazatlan World Birding Center in McAllen, Texas.
She has been active in genealogical research for over 25 years and is a member of the Hidalgo County Historical Commission, the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society, and an honorary member of the Las Villas del Norte genealogy group. Her primary focus is genealogy and local history instruction, Hispanic genealogy, and cemetery research.
Janine Cloud
Janine Cloud started on the phones at FamilyTreeDNA in 2011 and created the Group Projects team, which she now manages, in 2014. She is also the event coordinator for FTDNA and has given DNA talks at the local, regional, and national level since 2015. A fifth-generation Texan, Janine is a registered member of the Cherokee Nation.
Schelly Talalay Dardashti
Journalist/genealogist Schelly Talalay Dardashti is the US Genealogy Advisor for MyHeritage.com. She has traced her family across Eastern Europe, Spain, and Iran for 25+ years. With articles published in Family Tree Magazine, Avotaynu, the NGS Quarterly, The Forward, and JTA, the former Jerusalem Post columnist (“It’s All Relative,” 1999-2005) is an award-winning pioneer Jewish genealogy blogger and founder of “Tracing the Tribe – Jewish Genealogy on Facebook” (28,000+ members). Schelly is the co-administrator for the IberianAshkenaz DNA Project (Sephardic origins of some Eastern European Ashkenazi families) and the Jewish Persian DNA Project. She is a board member for the Casa Sefarad/Albuquerque, the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies, and JGS New Mexico.
Melissa Corn Finlay
Melissa Corn Finlay, AG, gained a passion for genealogy research at a young age, asking for rides to the Idaho State Archives before she even had a driver’s license. She earned her BA in Family History-Genealogy from Brigham Young University and is an Accredited Genealogist(R) professional in the U.S. Mid-South region through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen). Melissa currently serves on several committees with ICAPGen.
Encouraging the next generation of genealogists and family story keepers, Melissa has been teaching others how to discover and share their family history for over 20 years. Find articles and videos on genealogy methodology at her website www.boundlessgenealogy.com. Her personal family history photos and stories are shared at www.finlayfamily.org.
Melissa and her husband, John, are the parents of seven children, college-graduate down to kindergarten.
Gale French
Interested in genealogy for over 30 years, Gale French has lived in Texas all his life. Now retired, he worked for IBM in the US Space program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Gale’s work with commercial imaging technology and document management has enhanced his genealogy organization and presentation. He has published a 600-page family history book on his grandmother’s Elliott family line that came from England to Texas, fought in the Texas Revolution and received land for their service. For this book, Gale researched and traced ten generations of Elliotts and their descendants. He published another book on his paternal line, which included numerous DNA tests for the French family.
Gale is an instructor for Y-DNA at DNA-Adoption (http://www.dnaadoption.com/) and is on the board of mitoYDNA.org. He presented topics at the Southern California Genealogical Jamboree’s Conference, the 2013 Family Search conference in Friendswood, TX, the 2014 and 2015 Family Search Conferences in Houston. and the 2014, 2015 and 2019 RootsTech conferences in Salt Lake City. Gale has received the IBM Outstanding Contribution Award, NASA’s Apollo Achievement Award, and the NASA First Shuttle Flight Achievement Award for Manned Flight Awareness. He recently received the Pioneers in Space Technical Achievement Award from the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Moises Garza
Moises started researching his own family genealogy back in 1998 with the help of his father Lauro Garza, whose stellar memory helped him build a family tree of over 300 relatives all from his own recollections. Passionate about genealogy and helping others find their own ancestors, Moises has authored and edited over 30 books. He is also the editor for Las Villas del Norte Journal and Las Villas del Norte Newsletter.
The administrator of the We Are Cousins blog (www.wearecousins.info) focusing in South Texas and Northeastern Mexico Genealogy, Moises also created a website (the Mexican Genealogy Blog at www.mexicangenealogy.info) to help people interested in Mexican Genealogy get started. In addition, he created www.lasvillasdelnorte.com, a website that focuses in creating a genealogical group with the same benefits as a brick and mortar genealogical society but on a digital platform.
Patti Gillespie
Patti Todd Gillespie brings energy and humor to her classes. An avid hobby genealogist for 30 years, Patti formed Family Lines & Stories, her own research company, 4 years ago. She researches for clients and speaks to groups small and large in and out of Texas. A former teacher of French & English, Patti very much enjoys speaking and teaching genealogy research processes. In 2018, she was asked to be the secretary for Texas State Genealogy Society. In 2017 Patti was recruited to serve on 3 committees: Association of Professional Genealogists—Lone Star Chapter, Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), and the newest national institute, Texas Institute for Genealogical Research. In 2016, Patti was selected to assist NARA Fort Worth with indexing slave manifests, and she spoke at the Texas State Genealogical Society’s state conference. In 2015, she performed as the chairman of the video and streaming portion of the national Professional Management Conference sponsored by the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), and she was awarded the Birdie Monk Holsclaw IGHR scholarship to attend IGHR. Patti is a founding member and third-term president of the Wise County Genealogical Society, and she also teaches a six-week beginner’s genealogy course in her community. In addition, Patti serves on the board of Wise County Historical Society. Patti attends as many conferences and watches as many webinars as she is able to manage with her clients, husband, children, grandchildren, rescue dog, and acreage in Decatur, Texas.
Sharon Batiste Gillins
Sharon Batiste Gillins is a native of Galveston, Texas, with paternal ancestral roots in St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, and maternal roots in Fort Bend County, Texas. A life-long interest in her family’s history led to an active involvement in genealogical research for more than 25 years. Ms. Gillins’ career spans 40 years in education, retiring as Associate Professor at Riverside Community College, Riverside, California. She frequently calls upon her career background as a college educator to present lectures locally as well as at regional and national genealogy conferences, among them the Clayton Library, the Texas State Genealogical Society, the National Genealogical Society, Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, Federation of Genealogical Societies, the International Black Genealogical Summit, and the Alabama State University Genealogy Colloquium. Ms. Gillins’ research and teaching emphasize strategies and underutilized record sources that can be used to discover details of Southern life and ancestry during the 19th Century including that of planter slave owners, enslaved people, and free people of color.
Favorite record groups and teaching topics include Freedmen’s Bureau records, Southern Claims Commission records, land records, wills and probate, and records of incarceration.
At present, Ms. Gillins is a Research Associate at the Mary Moody Northen Endowment in Galveston, Texas, where she is responsible for the Moody Archive consisting of family and business manuscripts and photographs that date to the early 1800s.
Tony Hanson
Tony Hanson recently retired following a 32 year career with AT&T. He holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Telecommunications. He has been involved in Genealogy for 20 years, focusing mainly on his mother’s German branch and his father’s Norwegian ancestors. Tony is also an avid amateur photographer.
Active in the Dallas Genealogical Society, Tony has served as the leader of their Technology Special Interest Group, Vice President of Education, Webmaster, and President. The web site he managed has won several first place awards in the Texas State Genealogical Society’s ‘Partner Society Website Design’ annual competition. In addition, Tony was recognized as the ‘Volunteer of the Year’ by the Dallas Genealogical Society in 2010 and by the Texas State Genealogical Society in 2015 and received the Dallas Genealogical Society’s ‘Heritage Preservation’ award in 2017.
Susan Kaufman
Susan Kaufman is the Senior Manager of the Houston (TX) Public Library’s Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research in Houston. An Illinois native, Susan has more than 30 years of experience as a genealogy librarian, having started her career in Peoria, IL, then moving to the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne, Indiana, then moving to Texas in 2004.
A presenter at local, state and national genealogy conferences and meetings, she also has held numerous genealogical society board positions in Illinois, Indiana, and Texas and at the national level.
Susan was awarded the National Genealogical Society P. William Filby award for outstanding service as a Genealogical Librarian in May of 2019. She is past President of the Texas State Genealogical Society, and currently serves as its Director of Education. She is a member of the Texas Library Association and the American Library Association.
Kevin Klaus
Kevin Klaus developed a love of history from an early age while listening to stories told by his great-grandparents and grandparents who grew up in East Texas. He has a background in anthropology, archaeology, and public history from the University of New Mexico and is currently working towards becoming a certified genealogist. For the last 17 years, Kevin has served as one of the lead researchers in the Texas General Land Office Archives and Records Program Area. During his time at the Land Office, he has searched the early Court of Claims files, German Collection, and archival collection to learn more about the history of Texas and discover the amazing collection of personal letters of early soldiers and pioneers who helped settle our great state. Over the last few years, Kevin has focused his attention and research on the German Collection and the early German settlers that came to Texas under the Adelsverein in the 1840s. In the process, he has honed his research skills by tracing his own family line that came to America in the late 1800s.
Andy Lee
Andy Lee has been involved in family history research for 30 years. He enjoys researching ancestors from Sacramento, California, upstate New York, and St. Keverne, Cornwall, England. As a trained speaker with Toastmasters International, Andy has won several storytelling contests. He teaches throughout the US and Canada at conferences and local societies on subjects such as DNA, writing, beginning genealogy, and various tools to incorporate in your hobby. In 2016, he and his wife started the Family History Fanatics YouTube channel that has grown to be one of the most popular genealogy-related channels on YouTube. Videos are usually 7-10 minutes long, focus on a single topic, and are posted twice a week. He’s the co-author of the best selling DNA Q&A and A Recipe for Writing Family History as well as other family history related books. Andy graduated from Texas A&M University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and works in the oil & gas industry. He and his wife have five children.
Devon Noel Lee
Devon Noel Lee specializes in preserving and sharing family memories and motivating budding genealogists. She has created and published 60 scrapbooks, written a memoir from her teenage years, and four family history how-to books, including the popular A Recipe for Writing Family History. She has written the stories for over 120 ancestors and is working on compiling many of them into a book. Devon is a high energy speaker and lab instructor at local, state, and national genealogy conferences as well as public libraries. She educates and inspires the genealogy world through videos at FamilyHistoryFanatics.com. This former beauty queen reported on pageant news for 16 years. She graduated from Texas A&M with degrees in Marketing and Journalism. Currently, Devon is a home educator for five superheroes.
Dana Leeds
While working with an adoptee in 2018, Dana Leeds developed an innovative method to visually sort DNA matches into clusters based on a test taker’s four grandparent lines. Known as the Leeds Method, this revolutionary technique led to speaking invitations at i4GG’s International Genetic Genealogy Conference, RootsTech 2019, and GRIP’s “Practical Genetic Genealogy” course being coordinated by Blaine Bettinger. Dana enjoys making DNA results understandable and easy to work with for genealogists of all levels.
Bernard Meisner
Bernard N. Meisner, Ph.D., is a genealogist and lecturer based in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. He began researching his family over 25 years ago and enjoys sharing lessons learned from those experiences, including his mistakes. Although he knew only one grandparent (his maternal grandfather), he has successfully identified all of his great-great grandparents and several triple- and quadruple-great-grandparents. In the past three years, he has completed courses in German and Irish research at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh. He has served as president and social media chair of the Mid-Cities Genealogical Society, and is a member of the National Genealogical Society and the Texas State Genealogical Society.
Bernard recently retired from the National Weather Service Southern Region Headquarters where he was the Acting Chief of the Science & Technology Services Division. He is certified as a consulting meteorologist by the American Meteorological Society, and has taught at the Universities of Texas, Oklahoma and St. Thomas (Houston). Bernard earned a B.S. in physics/German from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in meteorology from the University of Hawaii.
Kelvin L. Meyers
A fifth-generation Texan and professional genealogist since 1990 and an avid researcher-historian since 1979, Kelvin is a frequent speaker to many genealogical societies and family associations throughout the US. He was employed for ten years in the Genealogy Department of the Dallas Public Library. Kelvin now has a solo practice as a forensic genealogist serving clients that include probate attorneys, trust department of banks, the US Immigration Service and energy companies, identifying missing or unknown heirs to estates and oil and gas leases. Kelvin worked for three years with the New England Historical and Genealogical Society as their southern research expert.
In 2016 Kelvin completed the Research in States Guide for Texas, published by the National Genealogical Society. Kelvin is the Director of the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR). He is a founding member and has served on the board of the Council for the Advancement of Forensic Genealogy.
Betsy Mills
Betsy Mills has been a genealogist since the age of 10 when she found a family tree in her baby book that hadn’t been filled out. She started pestering people for information to fill out that tree and hasn’t stopped since! She has been part of the TXGenWeb Project and State Coordinator for ARGenWeb since 1996. She is a member of the Magna Carta Dames, former regent in the NSDAR, and past member of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. She is currently President of the Lamar County Genealogical Society, Treasurer for the Texas State Genealogical Society, and a member of the Lamar County Historical Commission, heading up the Cemeteries Committee. Betsy maintains the Lamar County Death and Cemetery Records Online Database that currently contains over 108,000 records. Several years ago, she received a large envelope full of unidentified photographs of her father’s family. The quest to identify those photographs has evolved into sharing tips and techniques to help others learn to identify and share their own photos.
Elizabeth O’Neal
Elizabeth O’Neal writes, lectures, and consults on a variety of genealogy topics. Her passion is using technology and social media to enrich the experience of genealogy research and family history storytelling.
Elizabeth has been researching her own family history for more than three decades and is the owner of Swan Genealogy Services. She is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and the public speaking club Toastmasters International. Additionally, Elizabeth serves as vice president of the GeneaBloggers Organization, as well as the coordinator of the NGSQ Study Groups. She is a member of numerous lineage societies, including the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).
For more than a decade, Elizabeth has been writing and blogging about family history. As the author of the blog, My Descendant’s Ancestors, she shares family stories, technology and methodology tips, and hosts the monthly “Genealogy Blog Party” blog linkup.
David B. Passman
David Passman is a member of the National Genealogical Society, the Dallas Genealogical Society, and JewishGen.org. As a DGS member, he is actively involved in the Brown Bag and Jewish Special Interest Groups. As a speaker, he has made presentations to the Texas State Genealogical Society’s Family History Conference, the Dallas Genealogical Society, Plano Friends of Genealogy, the Dallas Jewish Historical Society, and the Mesquite Genealogical Society.
An active genealogist for over ten years, David pursues his genealogical interests academically. His research has been recognized by the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution in a proof argument the organization accepted as a genealogical proof. The paper was subsequently published in The Chisholm Trail, the journal of the Williamson County Texas Genealogical Society. His current research project focuses on the transmigrant experience of his namesake ancestor, David Passman, who immigrated to the United States from Minsk, Russia in 1891.
David holds a degree in Art History from Southern Methodist University, where he pursued interdisciplinary studies in Anthropology-Archaeology and Latin American Studies.
Paula Perkins
Involved in family history research for over 30 years, Paula is a proud 6th generation native Texan and a professional genealogical consultant, lecturer, and instructor of genealogy classes. Currently President of the Navarro County Genealogical Society and TSGS District I Rep, and she is a Past President for Collin County Genealogical Society. She is the administrator of the Fitch, Glaze, Orphan Train, and CCGS DNA projects as well as co-administrator of the Perkins and Cook DNA Surname projects.
Paula has served as a volunteer in many capacities for genealogical societies and her local genealogy library, as well as the Texas Heritage Online users group with the University of North Texas and the Texas State Library. She previously served as Executive VP Lectures/Fundraising for the Dallas Genealogical Society, the Peters Colony Historical Society President, and the Executive VP for Clayton Library Friends and has been appointed multiple terms to the County Historical Commission serving on the Cemetery and Historical Marker committees. Paula is editor of the CCGS Newsletter and has authored articles in genealogical and historical journals. A TXGenWeb website creator and coordinator, she has researched in northern, southern and national US repositories. An adjunct instructor of genealogy for Houston Community College, Paula has been a coordinator and presenter for the Dallas, Texas, local PBS station community outreach program in conjunction with the PBS series “Ancestors.”
Lisa Reed
Lisa Reed is an accomplished genealogist who gives presentations to help YOU! She is a doctoral student at Texas A&M-Commerce, interpreting public history. She earned a Master of Liberal Arts at SMU. Lisa has presented genealogy lectures at the Federation of Genealogical Societies in Washington, D.C., as well as in New England, Arkansas, and Texas. Frequently writing on genealogy topics, she has attended GRIP (Forensic), IGHR (Intermediate), and Virtual SLIG (Advanced Practicum) and has just completed ProGen.
Renate Yarborough Sanders
The descendant of formerly enslaved ancestors as well as enslavers and free people of color, Renate Yarborough Sanders has been engaged in genealogy research for over 21 years. She is the author of two blogs: Into the LIGHT, which focuses on her own family history, and Genea-Related, which is a platform for presenting a variety of information of genealogical interest. Renate also produces a “(Mostly) African-American Funeral Programs” online database in which she publishes vital data extracted from funeral programs.
Renate is a member of the North Carolina Genealogical Society, the Afro-American Genealogical and Historical Society, the Heritage Society of Franklin County, North Carolina, and the Tyrrell County (NC) Genealogical and Historical Society. She is a regular panelist on BlackProGen LIVE, an online program presenting topics of interest for people researching ancestors of color. Renate has published articles in genealogical newsletters as well as in the Franklin County (NC) Heritage Book (Vol. 1), and she volunteers in the historical and genealogical community by indexing and arbitrating documents for Family Search, Ancestry.com, and Fold3. Additionally, Renate is the newsletter editor for the Hampton Roads Chapter of AAHGS and a volunteer photographer for Find-A-Grave. Renate retired in July 2017 from a 32-year career as elementary educator.
Renate enjoys presenting genealogy talks on a variety of subjects, but specializes in sharing knowledge and techniques for researching ancestors of color: pre- and post-emancipation, free people of color, or enslaved. Each presentation is fine-tuned to meet the specific needs of her audience.
Mary Roddy, CG
Mary Roddy, a Certified Public Accountant, received a Master in Professional Accounting from the University of Texas. She has been a genealogist since 2000, becoming interested in the subject in anticipation of an extended trip to Ireland. Mary has researched in Ireland, Australia, and many locations across the US. She earned a certificate in Genealogy and Family History from the University of Washington in 2005 and completed ProGen 31 in November 2017. Mary has written several articles for Internet Genealogy, Family Chronicle, NGS Magazine, and FGS Forum and is also a regular book-reviewer for FGS Forum. She has also written many profiles for the Genealogical Speakers Guild quarterly, Speak! A frequent presenter for Legacy Family Tree Webinars as well as other society webinars, Mary currently serves as treasurer for the Association of Professional Genealogists. Read more about Mary and keep up with her blog Searching for Stories at www.mkrgenealogy.com.
Michael L. Strauss
Michael L. Strauss, AG, is a professional Accredited Genealogist (ICAPGen) and a nationally recognized speaker. A native of Pennsylvania and a resident of Utah, he has been employed as a Forensic Investigator for more than 25 years. Strauss holds a BA in History and is a United States Coast Guard veteran. He is a qualified expert witness in the courts in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Michael is featured on Lisa Louise Cooke’s Genealogy Gems with his monthly segment of “Military Minutes.” Strauss is a faculty member at SLIG, GRIP, and IGHR where he is the Military Course Coordinator. Michael has been involved in both Civil War and Mexican War reenacting for more than 25 years with membership with the 99th NY Infantry, Battery A. 5th US Artillery, and the Utah Living History Association.
Cari A. Taplin
Cari A. Taplin is related to Roy Rogers. Or at least that’s what her family told her. As a result, finding her true heritage has been her focus since the year 2000. She is a native of Wood County, Ohio, but migrated to Wyoming, Colorado, and now Pflugerville, Texas. Cari holds the Certified Genealogist® credential and has served in a wide variety of volunteer and leadership positions for state, local, and national societies. She currently serves on the board of the Association for Professional Genealogists and is the Vice President of Membership for the Federation of Genealogical Societies. As the owner of GenealogyPANTS, she provides speaking, research, and consultation services. Cari focuses on midwestern and Great Lakes states and methodology.
Mary Ozuna Torres
A native of Harlingen, Texas, Mary is president of the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society and District S Representative for the Texas State Genealogical Society. She has 19 years experience in genealogical research and is the current president of the Rio Grande Valley Hispanic Genealogical Society in Harlingen. Additionally, she is active with several civic and cultural organizations in her community and writes a weekly genealogy column for the Valley Morning Star, “Harlingen Happenings.” Mary is a member of the APG and has presented programs on genealogy for libraries, museums, and local civic organizations. She was a speaker at the 39th Texas State Hispanic Genealogical and Historical Conference in San Antonio in October 2018, the Clayton Library, October 2018, the 2016 RootsTech Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the 2016 Texas State Genealogical Society’s Annual Conference in Austin.
Lisa Toth Salinas
Lisa Toth Salinas is a freelance writer, genealogist, and 20-year home educating mother of five. Her three genealogy QuickGuidesTM (Catholic Genealogy, Hungarian Genealogy, and Croatian Genealogy) and webinar “Finding Your Roots in Catholic Records” are available through Legacy Family Tree. Visit Lisa’s website at http://smallestleaf.com.
Pam Vestal
Pam Vestal is a professional genealogist and speaker from West Linn, Oregon, and the owner of Generations Genealogy, LLC. After 20 years as a professional writer, Pam turned her full attention to her longtime love of genealogy. Since that time, her articles have appeared in the Association of Professional Genealogists’ Quarterly and the Federation of Genealogical Society’s Forum Magazine, and her lectures take her all over the country.
Debbie Parker Wayne, CG®, CGL(SM)
Debbie Parker Wayne is a board-certified genealogist experienced using DNA analysis and traditional techniques for family history research. Debbie edited the book and authored one chapter of Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies; coauthored the award-winning DNA workbook, Genetic Genealogy in Practice; and developed the online, self-paced course Continuing Genealogical Studies: Autosomal DNA offered by the National Genealogical Society. She is the DNA Project Chair for the Texas State Genealogical Society and the Early Texans DNA Project. Her publications include a column on using DNA analysis for genealogical research in NGS Magazine and in the Stirpes, the journal of the Texas State Genealogical Society. Debbie was the course coordinator for the first beginner and intermediate DNA courses offered at four major US genealogy institutes. See http://debbiewayne.com/ for more information and for archived versions of many of her articles.
Ari Wilkins
A graduate of Louisiana State University, Ari Wilkins has been actively researching family history since 1998. Ari worked with the esteemed genealogist, Dr. James Rose, for many years on his final project Generations: The WPA Ex-Slave Narrative Database. She is the owner of the genealogical consulting company, Black Genesis. She also works as a contributor for Proquest’s African American Heritage database.
Specializing in African American research, Ari has presented topics at conferences held by the National Genealogical Society, the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the Texas State Genealogical Society, and the Ohio Genealogical Society. In addition, she has spoken at the Samford Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, the American Library Association, RootsTech, and a multitude of local societies.
A Library Associate at Dallas Public Library since 2007, Ari teaches a series of basic research classes using popular genealogical websites.
The words Certified Genealogist and letters CG are registered certification marks, and the designations CGL and Certified Genealogical Lecturer are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation.