Speaker Bios
James M. Beidler, a Pennsylvania German expert, has authored four books, writes the weekly column/blog “Roots & Branches,” and is a German Life magazine columnist.
Skip Duett is a professional genealogist, speaker, and author specializing in New York land records. An instructor at Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), he has been published in the National Genealogical Quarterly and the New York Researcher. He serves on the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society (NYG&B) Family History Advisory Committee. He is actively researching and writing about the full spectrum of land records in Upstate New York.
Karen A. Fortin has degrees in History and Library Science and a passion for research. She loves to help people explore their family’s history so that they can better understand their ancestors and the world in which they lived.
Ryan Gleason oversees the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society’s (NYG&B) digital properties, including the digitization and maintenance of record collections and their corresponding search tools. Prior to the NYG&B, Ryan was the Director of Digital Strategy for New York Institute of Technology, one of the State’s premier STEM institutions.
Monica Gray has worked at the New York State Archives since 2006. She is now Director of Archival Services, overseeing collections care, access to records, and researcher services.
Yvette Hoitink, MLitt, CG®, QG™ is a professional genealogist, writer, and lecturer from the Netherlands. She has a master's degree in family and local history and specializes in research in the Netherlands and New Netherland. As a key team member for the NYG&B’s New Netherland Settlers initiative, she received a fellowship from the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation to research underrepresented and underexamined populations in the colony.
Alina Khuda has extensive experience as a court expert, probate genealogist, and a forensic genealogist. She established Khuda Genealogical Services (KGS) in 2016 and manages a team of 33 on-site genealogists across Europe. She is an expert criminal genealogist for U.S. courts and a course editor for the University of Genealogical Studies in Canada. Areas of genealogical data expertise include Eastern Europe and Jewish Galician, Orthodox Christian, Old Believers, Greek Catholic, Roma Catholic, Lutheran, Mennonite records. She has BA (Hons) and MA (Hons) degrees in Social Studies and Politics.
David Allen Lambert has been on the staff of American Ancestors since 1993 and is the organization’s Chief Genealogist. An internationally recognized speaker on the topics of genealogy and history, David has published many articles in the New England Historical and Genealogical Register, the New Hampshire Genealogical Record, Rhode Island Roots, Mayflower Descendant, and American Ancestors magazine. He has authored and/or co-authored in the published genealogies presented to many notable people, including David McCullough, Ken Burns, Angela Lansbury, Michael and Kitty Dukakis, and Nathaniel Philbrick. He has also published 11 books, including A Guide to Massachusetts Cemeteries, and Vital Records of Stoughton, Massachusetts, to the end of the year 1850. David received his B.A. in History from Northeastern University. David is an elected Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society and a life member of the New Hampshire Society of the Cincinnati and the General Society of the War of 1812. He also serves as the tribal genealogist for the Massachusett Tribe at Punkapoag in Massachusetts.
Annette Burke Lyttle, CG®, speaks on a variety of genealogical topics and loves helping people uncover their family stories. She is particularly fond of her New York ancestors.
Marie A. Mattson, CG®, lives in Oulu, Wisconsin. In 2023 Marie won the MGS (Minn.) Family History Writer Award and in 2024 the NYG&B Record published her article about Uncle Philo's buried treasure. In October 2024 Marie presented at the North Star Genealogy Conference in Eagan, Minnesota. Besides researching for others, she enjoys researching her ancestors who lived in New York.
Melanie McComb is a Senior Genealogist at American Ancestors. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the State University of New York at Oswego. She is an international lecturer who teaches on various topics, including colonial through 20th-century American military research, genetic genealogy, Atlantic Canadian, African American, Jewish, and Irish genealogy. She is also an Honorary Fellow of the Massachusetts Historical Society. She has had articles published in American Ancestors magazine and Fifty Plus Advocate. She is a blogger, known as The Shamrock Genealogist.
An NYG&B member since 1993, Susan R. Miller oversees the NYG&B’s print and digital publications. She is the editor of the New York Researcher magazine and editor of New York State Archives Guide, New York City Municipal Archives Guide and a managing editor of the New York Family History Research Guide and Gazetteer. A graduate of Brown University, Susan is a member of the Association of Professional Genealogists and several other genealogical and historical societies.
Bryna O'Sullivan, PLCGS, is a Connecticut-based professional genealogist and French-to-English genealogical translator. As proprietor of Charter Oak Genealogy, she specializes in lineage society applications.
Pam Ricciardi Paschke is a genealogical researcher, writer, and speaker. She administers five FamilyTreeDNA projects and is the author of a book on colonial Dutchess County, NY.
Kaitlyn Pauley, a professional genealogist and former teacher, was born and raised in Western New York. After researching her family tree for 20 years, she learned she has deep roots in the Mid-Atlantic states. She is a graduate of BYU-Idaho's Family History Research program and ProGen 66. Kaitlyn specializes in New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia research, going beyond basic vital information to highlight ancestors' stories and experiences.
Edythe Ann Quinn, Ph.D. (Edie) is an Emerita Professor of History, Hartwick College (1995-2018). She is the author of FREEDOM JOURNEY: Black Civil War Soldiers and The Hills Community, Westchester County, NY. Edie has twice been a presenter at the New York State Family History Conferences, in person at Tarrytown, NY (2018), and on demand in 2021. She lives in a mid-19th-century farmhouse in upstate New York.
In 2024, Diane L. Richard celebrated her 20th anniversary of doing professional genealogy research, speaking, and writing. She focuses on genealogical research tips, techniques, tools, strategies, and under-utilized resource collections.
Janice M. Sellers is a professional genealogist and international speaker whose grandparents told her she is related to actor Peter Sellers and to John of Gaunt, son of a king and father of a king. Unfortunately, they were wrong, but that’s why she has researched her family for 50 years and now helps others find the right pieces to fit their genealogy puzzles. She specializes in Jewish, Black, forensic, and newspaper research. Her site is ancestraldiscoveries.com.
D. Joshua Taylor, MA, MLS, FUGA, is the President and CEO of the NYG&B and a nationally known and recognized genealogist. Previously, Joshua held senior leadership positions with Findmypast and the New England Historic Genealogical Society and has volunteered in leadership positions for the Federation of Genealogical Societies and other organizations. A prolific author and popular speaker, Joshua has been a coordinator for courses at the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) and is the recipient of RootsTech’s Distinguished Presenter Award. He has been a featured genealogist on Who Do You Think You Are? and was a host on the PBS series Genealogy Roadshow. Joshua holds a Master of Library Science degree in Archival Management and a Master of Arts degree in History from Simmons College.
Pamela J. Vittorio is a professional genealogist with a background in history and foreign languages. Interests include migration patterns, transportation, and researching the family histories of laborers and travelers on New York State canals.
Robert Cameron Weir is a genealogical researcher, lecturer, and author who lives in Dover, New Hampshire. He specializes in hard problems related to New England genealogy, from 1620 to the present. He is a member of the Association for Professional Genealogy and is the Publications Director for the New Hampshire Society of Genealogists.
Jane E. Wilcox, FGBS, serves on the New York State Archives and the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society’s family history advisory committees. She authored New York State Archives Guide: For Family Historians, Biographers, and Historical Researchers.
Paula Williams is a professional genealogist who has been researching for more than two decades, in primarily southern U.S. states, and has been using DNA to solve problems for more than a decade. She has studied at Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed). She is a board member of the Virginia Genealogical Society and of the Genealogical Research Institute of Virginia (GRIVA) and is the facilitator for the latter's DNA Special Interest Group. She has taught at the IGHR and GRIP institutes and has lectured for Legacy Family Tree Webinars, the Southern California Genealogical Society's Genealogy Jamboree and for the National Genealogical Society conference, among other organizations. She also serves as the Virtual Tech Coordinator for the GRIP Genealogy Institute.
