TIGR 2023 Home | Course Summary | Course Schedules | Registration
Deborah A. Abbott, PhD
Deborah A. Abbott, PhD, is a professional genealogist specializing in genealogical methodology, manuscript collections, and African American family research. She is a member of the Cuyahoga County (Ohio) Archives Commission, an affiliate with the Kentucky-Tennessee Associates, 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 MEd degrees from Tuskegee University in Alabama and the PhD degree from Kent State University in Ohio.
Dr. Abbott is coordinator of the African American Track at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), in addition, she teaches at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR). Dr. Abbott also presents lectures and workshops for national, state, and local genealogy conferences, colleges, businesses, and libraries across the country.
She has had articles published in the Ohio Genealogy News and Family Tree magazines. Dr. Abbott can be found teaching African American genealogy a segment entitled “Needles & Threads” on Ancestry Academy, an educational video course for Ancestry.com. She teaches monthly classes entitled “Using Ancestry.com in Genealogy Research” at the Lakewood (Ohio) Public Library and coordinates the “Genealogy and Family History Clinic” for the Cleveland Public Library.
Dr. Abbott is a member of the National Genealogical Society (NGS), the Association of Professional Genealogist (APG), and the Genealogical Speakers Guild (GSG).
A Cleveland, Ohio, native, she is a life member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the Tuskegee University National Alumni Association, and Antioch Baptist Church in Cleveland.
Tony Burroughs, FUGA
Tony Burroughs is founder and CEO of the Center for Black Genealogy. He is an internationally known genealogist who taught genealogy at Chicago State University for fifteen years and taught at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Samford, Alabama, and the Genealogical Institute for Mid-America (GIMA) in Springfield, Illinois.
Burroughs researched Olympic Gold Medal sprint champion Michael Johnson’s family history and consulted on genealogies for Smokey Robinson, Oprah Winfrey, Reverend Al Sharpton, and Billy Porter. He also consulted for African American Lives2, Who Do You Think You Are?, The Real Family of Jesus, Chicago Public Schools, New York Public Schools, Chicago City Colleges, and Ancestry.com.
Burrough’s book, Black Roots: A Beginners Guide to Tracing the African American Family Tree (Simon & Schuster), was number one on Essence magazine’s best seller list and is now in its fifth printing. He wrote chapters in the Encyclopedia of African American History (Oxford University Press), The Experts’ Guide to 100 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do (Random House), The Source, revised edition (Ancestry), and the African American Genealogical Sourcebook (Gale Research).
Burroughs has traced seven family lines seven generations and one line eight generations. His genealogical research has qualified him for twelve lineage society certificates. For more information, see www.TonyBurroughs.com.
Angie Bush, MS
Angie Bush is the Region 1 Director for the National Genealogical Society and the chair of the Genetic Genealogy committee. She is a Genetic Genealogist Researcher with Ancestry ProGenealogists in Salt Lake City. Angie has been interested in her genealogy since she was very young. After college, she spent several years working in biotech while continuing to pursue her genealogy hobby. With the growing popularity and introduction of autosomal DNA testing in 2012, she decided to combine her two loves into one career. Although she spends a lot of time working on recent unknown parentage cases (adoptions, unknown fathers), her favorite type of research involves solving decades old “brick-walls” using a combination of traditional records and genetic evidence. A popular speaker and presenter, she enjoys attending conferences where she can connect with others who share her passion for genealogy. Angie is a Utah native and lives in Sandy, Utah.
Henrietta Martinez Christmas
Henrietta Martinez Christmas is a well-known and respected genealogical speaker and researcher who has given presentations on topics related to Hispanics in the Southwest and Mexico. Engagements include keynotes for the New Mexico Genealogical Society and Santa Fe Trail Association. She has also been featured at annual conferences for the Texas State Genealogical Society, DAR, DAR Spanish Task Force and BIA-International Conference, Legacy Family Tree webinars, and as an instructor at SLIG. An award-winning author, she has written over 200 articles and several books related to genealogy and small towns and has extracted and transcribed historical records for genealogical societies.
Arturo Cuellar, AG
Arturo Cuellar is a genealogical researcher with over 30 years of experience. He is a member of the Utah Genealogical Association and several other genealogical associations and societies. Arturo is an Accredited Genealogist in Argentina, Colombia-Panama, Mexico, Peru, and Venezuela. He is working towards a master’s degree in Latin American Studies. Arturo works at the Family History Library as a Latin America & Spain Research Specialist.
Catherine Desmarais, CG
Certified Genealogist Catherine Becker Wiest Desmarais is the owner of Stone House Historical Research, where she leads a team of researchers specializing in forensic genealogical research for probate, real estate, and military repatriation cases.
Her firm completes more than 6,000 hours of forensic genealogy research annually and has assisted the Defense POW-MIA Accounting Agency to locate families for more than one thousand missing service members. A professional genealogist since 2006 and board-certified since 2011, Catherine has a broad range of genealogical experience in the U.S. and internationally, with particular expertise in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Ireland.
Catherine is a past vice-president of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG). She is a founding member of APG’s Forensic Genealogy Special Interest Group (ForGen SIG). After a long tenure on the program committee of APG’s New England chapter, she now serves in the same capacity for APG’s ForGen SIG. She has a MS in education from the University of Vermont and has taught at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, the Genealogical Institute of Pittsburgh, the Forensic Genealogy Institute, and the Federation of Genealogical Societies conference as well as local and regional venues. Her research and writing have been published in the National Genealogical Society Quarterly, Crossroads, and the Association of Professional Genealogists Quarterly.
Roberta Estes, MS
Roberta Estes, author of the book, DNA for Native American Genealogy, and popular blog www.DNAexplain.com is a scientist, National Geographic Genographic affiliate researcher, Million Mito team member and founding pioneer in the genetic genealogy field.
An avid 40-year genealogist, Roberta has written over 1,600 articles at DNAexplain about genetic genealogy as well as how to combine traditional genealogy with DNA to solve those stubborn ancestor puzzles. Roberta took her first DNA test in 1999 and hasn’t stopped.
Roberta provides consulting and analysis to major news publications organizations including the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the History Channel and others. She speaks internationally, produces webinars, and continues to engage with scientific research. A National Geographic Society Genographic Project affiliate researcher, Roberta continues leading-edge research as the founder of the Million Mito Project. Her new book with be forthcoming in 2023.
Teri Flack, MA, MBA
Teri E. Flack began her family history quest over 50 years ago when she asked her paternal grandmother to tell her everything she knew about the Flacks and Fenleys. Although she had to be content with researching in fits and starts while she worked for the state of Texas, once she retired in 2009, she turned her attention full-time to genealogy.
In addition to lecturing on genealogy topics, she volunteered for local, state, and national organizations: she was treasurer for the Austin Genealogical Society; and she served the Federation of Genealogical Societies as interim President, Vice President of Administration, and Director. Her recent volunteer efforts have focused on preserving records and ensuring their accessibility to researchers. She is a fellow of the Texas State Genealogical Society, chairing the TxSGS Records Preservation and Access Committee and serving as the Texas state liaison to the national RPAC. She is a volunteer archivist for the Texas State Archives, processing Galveston County records and creating finding aids to make them accessible. Teri also served two terms on the Texas Historical Records Advisory Board. She served multiple terms on the Travis County Historical Commission and just completed her eighth year as the county historical marker chair.
Teri’s lecturing experience includes multiple Legacy Family Tree Webinars (“Organization: the Key to Successful Research,” “Seeing the Patterns: Organize, Visualize, & Evaluate the Evidence,” and 5 webinars for the “Researching Texas” series); FGS national conferences (multiple presentations at numerous conferences); faculty member, Texas Institute for Genealogical Research, 2017, 2019, 2021; Texas State Genealogical Society (multiple presentations at numerous conferences); and multi-presentation seminars to genealogical societies.
LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson, JD, LLM, CG®, CGL(SM), FASG
LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson has served as a trustee of the Board for Certification of Genealogists® since 2016, and was BCG President in 2019-2022. She is also a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists, the field’s honorary scholarly society that was founded in 1940 and is limited to fifty life-time members. In addition to serving as the registrar general of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage (a lineage society that honors ancestors who were enslaved in America from 1619-1865), she coordinates the African American Track at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and teaches various subjects at SLIG, the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records, and the Institute of Genealogy & Historical Research. For more information see her website https://www.LabGarrettGenealogy.com.
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. 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 lecture and present at regional and national genealogy conferences. Ms. Gillins’ research and teaching emphasize strategies for researching underutilized record sources to discover details of 19th century Southern life and ancestry, including that of planter slave owners, enslaved people, and free people of color.
Ms. Gillins works as a Research Associate at the Mary Moody Northen Endowment in Galveston, Texas, where her work centers on maintaining the Moody family archive and exhibit development for the historic house museum.
Colleen Robledo Greene, MLIS
Colleen Robledo Greene, MLIS, is an academic librarian, college educator, and tech nerd who has been researching her family history since 1997. She is the Digital Literacy Librarian at California State University, Fullerton, and teaches an online graduate-level genealogical research methods course for San Jose State University. Colleen is a nationally recognized genealogy educator and speaker specializing in methodology, Mexican and Hispanic research, libraries and archives, and technology.
Shamele Jordan
Shamele Jordon is a professional genealogist, producer, writer, and lecturer. Her biographical highlights include: award winning TV producer of Genealogy Quick Start; 2018 Best Independent Producer, Instructional/Training, presented by Alliance for Community Media; 2017 Learning Award Cammy presented by PhillyCAM, Philadelphia’s public access station; 2019 Lawnside Education Foundation honoree; researcher for the PBS series Oprah’s Roots: African American Lives I and II; New Jersey State Library grant recipient, researching Civil War Burials in Lawnside, New Jersey; board member and faculty at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research, University of Athens, Georgia; former president of the African American Genealogy Group in Philadelphia; and workshop volunteer at the Family History Center in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Gretchen Jorgensen
Gretchen Jorgensen first became interested in genealogy while working on a required school project. This interest was shelved for decades but grew into a passion in adulthood. In 2015, she took an AncestryDNA test with no goal in mind other than to see what the fuss was all about, but that choice changed the course of her life. When an adopted third-cousin DNA match asked for help, Gretchen’s original response may have involved the phrase “needle in a haystack,” but a few minutes later, a biological parent was identified. Once she understood the potential of what DNA results could reveal, Gretchen’s desire intensified to help others utilize DNA to learn more about their ancestors.
Gretchen currently is employed by Legacy Tree Genealogists, with research efforts focused on incorporating DNA analysis into brick wall research. Her educational background includes a double major in mathematics and statistics, and a minor in computer science. These subjects provided an excellent foundation in problem solving skills which have benefited her genealogical research.
Leah Larkin
Leah Larkin, PhD, is a professional genealogist and educator who is perhaps best known for her brainchild, the What Are the Odds? tool (WATO). The mathematical approach to autosomal DNA matches, coupled with the web design skills of Jonny Perl, have made WATO an essential tool in the genetic genealogist’s toolbox. Leah earned her doctorate in biology from the University of Texas at Austin, where she used DNA to study species relationships. She previously worked in both academia and scientific publishing and now applies those research skills to solving genealogical questions using DNA. She blogs at TheDNAGeek.com; speaks at the local, national, and international level; and teaches with the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, Applied Genealogy Institute, and Family History Academy as well as TIGR. In addition to taking private clients, she is currently working on a new tool for analyzing endogamy.
J. Mark Lowe, FUGA
J. Mark Lowe describes himself as a lifelong genealogist. He is a professional genealogist, author, and lecturer who specializes in original records and manuscripts throughout the South. Mark enjoys opportunities to share what he has learned over the years through YouTube, webinars, and institutes.
He serves as the course coordinator for “Research in the South” at IGHR (Georgia) and TIGR, does webinars for Legacy Family Tree Webinars, and has worked on several genealogical television series including Follow Your Past, African American Lives 2, Who Do You Think You Are?, and UnXplained Events as well as podcasts including Twice Removed and Blast From My Past.
He is a past president of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG) and past president of the Southern Kentucky Genealogical Society. Mark is a Fellow of the Utah Genealogical Society and was awarded the Graham T. Smallwood award and Lifetime Membership award by the Association of Professional Genealogists.
Gail Jackson Miller, CG®
Gail Jackson Miller is a professional genealogist and lecturer specializing in Kentucky and Tennessee research. She grew up in Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, with family lines extending back to the early 1800s in Kentucky or Tennessee. With over 40 years of genealogical research, she continues to enhance her general knowledge of families and records.
In 1999, Gail became a board-certified genealogist with the Board for Certification of Genealogists®. She helped open the LDS Family History Center in Bowling Green in 1989 and is the current Director. She is a past president of the Southern Kentucky Genealogical Society and served as editor of The Longhunter for eleven years. She was also editor of the Muhlenberg County Genealogical Society’s The Heritage for several years. Prior to her professional genealogy work, she was a nationally recognized biology teacher with experience with both high school and college students.
Kelvin L. Meyers
A fifth-generation Texan, Kelvin L. Meyers has been a professional forensic genealogist since 1996. He is a frequent speaker to genealogical societies and family associations throughout the U.S. He specializes in southern brick wall problems for clients.
Kelvin is a 1989 and 1990 alum of the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research at Samford University and has returned to IGHR as lecturer in the Southern and the Professional courses. In 2016, he co-coordinated with J. Mark Lowe “A Swing Through the South” at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogical Research (SLIG). In 2019, Kelvin coordinated “Burned Counties and More: Overcoming Record Loss” for SLIG.
A member of the forensic special interest group of the Association of Professional Genealogists (APG), Kelvin is a past board member of APG and a past president of the Lone Star Chapter of APG. He currently serves as the chair of the history and archives committee of First United Methodist Church in Dallas.
The Dallas Genealogical Society awarded Kelvin the Lloyd DeWitt Bockstruck Distinguished Service Award in December of 2018. In 2016, Kelvin published Research in Texas for the “Research in the States” series by the National Genealogical Society. Kelvin is the director of TIGR, a Texas State Genealogical Society event.
CeCe Moore
CeCe Moore is the leading authority on investigative genetic genealogy (IGG). Through collaboration with hundreds of investigative agencies across all 50 states, as well as several countries, she has led the Parabon Genetic Genealogy Team to the unparalleled record of over 220 successful identifications of violent criminal suspects and unidentified decedents since 2018. CeCe’s work with law enforcement has led to the first conviction, the first conviction through jury verdict, the first conviction in a recent violent crime, and the first exoneration in cases where the suspect was identified through IGG.
Over a decade ago, CeCe began developing and teaching the now widely-used unknown parentage genetic genealogy techniques that have become foundational and central aspects of the IGG field. She has given hundreds of lectures on genetic genealogy, including as a featured speaker at the recent 2022 U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference, as well as teaching thousands of law enforcement officials.
In 2013, she founded the DNA Detectives, which has grown to be the largest genetic genealogy educational online community (~180,000 members), and co-founded the Institute for Genetic Genealogy. For nine seasons, CeCe has served as the genetic genealogy expert, trusted with analyzing the DNA of hundreds of high-profile guests for the PBS documentary television series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Recently profiled by the New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Sunday Times, CeCe’s groundbreaking work has been featured widely in thousands of articles and hundreds of television shows throughout the world, promoting public awareness and support of investigative genetic genealogy as a powerful tool with positive societal impact.
CeCe has been appointed a Non-Resident Fellow of the Du Bois Research Institute at Harvard’s Hutchins Center (2019–2023).
Jonny Perl
Jonny Perl is a genealogist, DNA enthusiast, and web developer based in Swansea, Wales. He is the creator and founder of dnapainter.com, an award-winning website offering chromosome mapping, inheritance charts, and more. Jonny has also collaborated with leading genetic genealogists to create additional tools that help people around the world interpret the results of their autosomal DNA tests.
With a professional background in online publishing, Jonny worked as a proofreader, copy editor, and production manager for a variety of electronic science journals for many years. After this, he moved to London and established a digital development agency, producing websites and mobile applications for a variety of popular brands.
After many years exploring his family history, Jonny took a DNA test in 2016 and was fascinated to investigate how the results could help his research. His focus is now on exploring new ways of visualizing DNA and family tree information to help make it more inviting and user-friendly. Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Jonny has family roots in Ireland, England, and Germany.
Timothy B. Pinnick
Timothy N. Pinnick is an accomplished researcher, popular national speaker, author of the book, Finding and Using African American Newspapers, and owner of History and Genealogy Spotlight, a business specializing in assisting libraries and individuals in identifying new and used African American books relevant to the African American research process.
Tim is the author of more than half a dozen articles, including “Using an Extended Research Project to Reconstruct a Community” which appeared in the Association for Professional Genealogists Quarterly, “Answers in African American Newspapers” written for Family Tree Magazine, “The Carnegie Medal” in NGS Magazine, and most recently coauthored “From Runaways to Reunions” in the January/February 2018 edition of Family Tree Magazine.
A lover of African American history, Pinnick has delivered his historical papers at the Western Historical Association conference, Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Association for African American Historical Research and Preservation, and the Illinois History Conference. In 2009, he returned to the Association for African American Historical Research and Preservation Conference in Seattle, Washington, to deliver the keynote address.
Pinnick is affiliated with numerous historical and genealogical associations and has served on the boards of the Association of Professional Genealogists and Federation of Genealogical Societies.
He can be reached via e-mail at: pinnick.aabooks@gmail.com.
Michael S. Ramage, JD, CG®
Michael S. Ramage is a full-time forensic genealogist, author, lecturer, and expert witness. Mr. Ramage has served as a Trustee, officer, and now General Counsel of BCG, and he is the current President of the APG Forensic Genealogy Special Interest Group. His 25-year law practice included real estate and estate law and litigation. He has taught numerous genealogy courses at genealogy conferences and institutes around the country. His related publications include the “Forensic Specialization” and “Ethical Considerations” chapters in Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards, Elizabeth Shown Mills, editor (Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company, 2018).
Judy G. Russell, JD, CG®, CGLSM
Judy G. Russell, “The Legal Genealogist,” is a genealogist with a law degree. She writes, teaches, and lectures on a wide variety of genealogical topics ranging from using court records in family history to understanding DNA testing. A Colorado native with roots deep in the American South on her mother’s side and entirely in Germany on her father’s side, she is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, the National Genealogical Society, and numerous state and regional genealogical societies. She has written for the National Genealogical Society Quarterly and National Genealogical Society Magazine, among other publications.
Judy is on the faculty of the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research in Georgia, the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy, the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh, and Boston University’s Center for Professional Education. She is a member of the Board of Trustees for the Board for Certification of Genealogists, from which she holds credentials as a Certified Genealogist and Certified Genealogical Lecturer. Her blog – chosen as one of the American Bar Association’s top 100 in 2013 and 2014 – appears at The Legal Genealogist website (https://www. legalgenealogist.com).
John A. Sellers
John A. Sellers, a fifth generation native to Hopkins County, Texas, graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in advertising/public relations and received his teaching certificate in history from Texas A & M, Commerce. A genealogical researcher since 1985, John’s favorite area of research is in the courthouse. He has visited courthouses in several southern states and has conducted extensive research in Texas and Louisiana.
John is an active member of the Hopkins County Genealogical Society and has served fifteen years on the executive board and as President, 1997-1998, 2017. He was a speaker at the FGS National Conference in 1997 and 2004 and at NGS in 1994. He has been the featured speaker for more than 65 all-day seminars located in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. John has given over 275 programs on genealogy and history. He was the featured speaker at the DRT Genealogical Conference at the Alamo in 2002, 2003, and 2011, and also the Louisiana Historical and Genealogical Seminar in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 2007 and 2011. He has been a faculty member for the Angelina College Genealogy Conference, 1999-2014, and was a featured instructor at the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research in 2017 and 2019. He has completed Genealogy as a Profession, Advanced Methodology, and Advanced Library Research courses at the Institute of Genealogical and Historical Research, Samford University. John was a lecturer at the Institute of Genealogical Research at Samford University in 2009, 2010, 2014, and at the University of Georgia in 2018. He compiled an addendum to the 1850 Census of Hopkins County, Texas.
He is an Assistant Vice President – Director of Marketing with City National Bank of Sulphur Springs. John is Mayor of Sulphur Springs and is serving his third term on the City Council.
Franklin Carter Smith
Franklin Carter Smith is currently a Senior Library Service Specialist at the Clayton Library Center for Genealogical Research, a special collections library of the Houston Public Library. He’s been engaged in family history research nearly 40 years. A licensed attorney, he practiced law for thirteen years before joining the library.
His specialty area is African American research with a specific interest in the enslavement era. He co-authored with Emily Anne Croom A Genealogists’ Guide to Discovering your African-American Ancestors. He has also written several articles for Family Tree Magazine and presented talks to numerous Texas groups and organizations on African American Family History research and DNA.
Marian L. Smith
Marian Smith retired in 2018 after thirty years as an Historian for the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), later U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). She now speaks to groups on U.S. immigration and nationality records and leads an Immigration and Naturalization Records study group.
Marian’s articles have appeared in the National Archives journal Prologue, the Federation of Genealogical Societies Forum, and other publications, including contributions to the “Immigration Records” chapter in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy. Her research focus primarily involves official immigration agency records held in the National Archives in downtown Washington, D.C.
Paula Stuart-Warren, CG®
Paula Stuart-Warren is an internationally recognized genealogical educator, researcher, and consultant focusing on unusual resources, manuscripts, methodology, and analyzing records. She is a strong proponent of continuing education in the field of genealogy. She has researched onsite at the U.S. National Archives (multiple locations), Family History Library, Minnesota Historical Society, Wisconsin Historical Society, New England Historic Genealogical Society, and other state and local repositories in the U.S. from coast to coast. She has worked with several Native American Tribes and law firms on enrollment issues and researching tribal history and genealogy. From 1997-2018, she was a Course Coordinator for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy and has lectured numerous times at National Genealogical Society and Federation of Genealogical Societies conferences as well as in many states and Canada. Paula has taught at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh since its inception. She is a former officer of the Association of Professional Genealogists, former board member of the Minnesota Genealogical Society, past President of the Northland Chapter of the APG, and a former member of the Board of Directors of the Federation of Genealogical Societies (FGS). She has been named a Fellow of the Minnesota Genealogical Society and the Utah Genealogical Association in addition to other awards noted on her website. She is descended from eight ancestral countries and has researched family connections across the U.S. and Canada. Paula has written for Ancestry, FGS, NGS Magazine, New England Ancestors, Minnesota Genealogist, Findmypast.com, and currently has her own website and blog, Genealogy by Paula, http://genealogybypaula.com/.
Cari A. Taplin, CG®
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 now lives in Longmont, Colorado. Cari holds the Certified Genealogist® credential and has served in a wide variety of volunteer and leadership positions for state, local, and national societies. As the owner of GenealogyPANTS, she provides speaking services. She also lends help and shares her expertise as an administrator on the highly popular Facebook Group “The Genealogy Squad.” Cari currently works for Ancestry ProGenealogists. Cari’s personal research focuses on Midwestern and Great Lakes states. When she’s not working on her genealogy, she is a wife, and a mother of two young adults. You can learn more about Cari at www.genealogypants.com.
Tanner Tolman
Tanner Tolman is accredited through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists (ICAPGen) for research in the Denmark Region. He has a deep passion for both Scandinavian and DNA research and works full-time as a research consultant at the Family History Library. Tanner also serves as the 2nd Vice President of the Utah Genealogical Association and as a co-administrator on the Yeomans Y-DNA surname project. He enjoys family history, Palpatine, bacon burgers, and Venusaur, but most of all he enjoys playing with his wife and three small children.
Lynn Turner, AG®
Lynn Turner graduated with a BA in Family History and Genealogy from Brigham Young University with an emphasis in Spain and Latin America. He has been accredited in Spanish research since 2006. Lynn has worked at FamilySearch for more than 17 years in various roles and is currently the Director of the Family History Library.
If he’s not researching, Lynn is spending time with his family, golfing, or mountain biking.
Elizabeth Crabtree Wells, BA, MA, MLS, DHL
Elizabeth Crabtree Wells is active in genealogical and historical communities, having served as Special Collection Librarian and Archivist at Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama. She specializes in historical and genealogical research in Alabama and Southern records, religious records, local and state governmental records, and repositories. She is the past president of the Alabama Genealogical Society, the Birmingham Genealogical Society, and is a founder and past president of the Society of Alabama Archivists, and archivist for the Hoover Historical Society. Elizabeth is the recipient of the NGS William Filby Award for Genealogical Librarianship, the Marvin Whiting Award from the Society of Alabama Archivists, and the Betty Hurtt Service Award from Association of Librarians and Archivists in Baptist Institutions (ALABI).
She is a lecturer at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), speaker at NGS and FGS conferences, and presenter at state and regional genealogical and historical organizations. Her publications include: Daughters of the Dream: History of Judson College with Frances Hamilton; “Genealogy Section,” Magazines for Libraries; state advisor (Alabama), Best Books for Academic Libraries; “Church Records” chapter in The Source: A Guidebook to American Genealogy; and The Alabama Baptist: Celebrating 175 years of Informing, Inspiring and Connecting Baptists, by The Alabama Baptist with Elizabeth Wells and Grace Thornton.
She holds a B.A. from Judson College, an M.A. from Auburn University, an M.L.S. from the University of Alabama, and an honorary doctorate from Judson College.
Ari Wilkins
Ari Wilkins, a graduate of Louisiana State University, has been actively researching family history since 1998. For many years, Ari worked with the esteemed genealogist, Dr. James Rose, on his final project Generations: The WPA Ex-Slave Narrative Database.
She is the owner of the genealogical consulting company, Black Genesis. Ari also works as a contributor for Proquest’s African American Heritage database.
Ari has instructed at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research. She has been a conference speaker for the National Genealogical Society, Federation of Genealogical Societies, Texas State Genealogical Society, Ohio Genealogical Society, American Library Association, and has lectured at a multitude of local societies. A Library Associate at Dallas Public Library since 2007, she specializes in African American research and has lectured on African American migration.
Paul Woodbury
Paul Woodbury, AG, MEd., is a Research Team Manager at Legacy Tree Genealogists where he helped solve hundreds of genetic genealogy cases over the past several years. During the same time frame, he taught hundreds of classes, workshops, and lectures on various genealogy topics, but primarily on genetic genealogy and research in France.
From a young age, he has had a strong interest in genetic genealogy. To pursue a career in the field, he attended Brigham Young University where he studied Genetics and Family History. To aid in his desire to teach others about genetic genealogy, he also pursued a master’s degree in Instructional Design and Educational Technology from the University of Utah. In addition to genetic genealogy, he loves research in France (for which he has received accreditation through the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional Genealogists).
*The words Accredited Genealogist and its acronym, AG, are registered accreditation marks of the International Commission for the Accreditation of Professional GenealogistsSM, used under license by accredited genealogists for periodic evaluation.
**The words Certified Genealogist and its acronym, CG, are a registered certification mark, and the designations Certified Genealogical Lecturer and its acronym, CGL, are service marks of the Board for Certification of Genealogists®, used under license by board certificants after periodic evaluation.
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