June Baker Higgins is a relative newcomer to genealogy and to Maryland. She started genealogical research after retirement from Central Connecticut State University, where she had served as Dean of Arts and Sciences and Professor of Psychology. With the aid of some family materials assembled by two cousins, she started studying her own and her husband’s ancestry and has been hooked ever since. Moving to Maryland in 2012 to live near her children, June has also moved closer to the homes of some of her Marvel ancestors. They lived in Somerset and Worcester counties in the late 17th century, but after the Maryland border with Pennsylvania and Delaware was settled, later Marvel generations found themselves living in Delaware. June is a member of the New England Historical and Genealogical Society, The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, and the National Genealogical Society as well as the Maryland Genealogical Society. She continues to learn from the webinars and presentations of these and other societies and enjoys transcribing records for FamilySearch.

 

Tom McCarriar was born in Baltimore City, and raised in Howard County, Maryland. He has BS and MS degrees in Math from Duke University and Johns Hopkins University, respectively, and served in the Navy after graduation. He retired in 2015 after working for the Department of Defense for nearly 40 years. Tom started his genealogy research about 20 years ago, and has traced his McCarragher family (through several alternate spellings) from its emigration from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland in 1814, through New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, to its arrival in Baltimore in 1830. He is also researching his mother’s family in Georgia and his paternal grandmother’s family in Adams County, Pennsylvania. Since retiring, Tom has continued to pursue the “paper trail,” but has also focused extensively on genetic genealogy. He has tested with all the major DNA testing companies, and provides advice on DNA testing strategies, interpreting results, and working with DNA matches to anyone interested in learning more about their genetic roots. He has given presentations on a variety of genetic (and other) genealogy topics at Anne Arundel County libraries and genealogical organizations. Tom is a member of the National Genealogical Society, and frequently attends national genealogy conferences as well as local classes, workshops, and lectures. He volunteers at the Maryland Archives, working with FamilySearch to photograph Maryland probate records that will soon be available online. Tom is the newsletter editor and web manager of the Anne Arundel Genealogical Society. He has served the past five years as an At-Large Member of the Executive Board of the Maryland Genealogical Society and is the MGS delegate to the Federation of Genealogical Societies.
 

Janelle Bartlett Mummey became interested in genealogy around 2007 after learning about her paternal grandfather’s family research gathered from the 1970s until his unexpected death in 1989.  He did most research by mail from his home in Mississippi; but most of his relatives were still in Maryland, as he had been raised in the Baltimore/DC region.  He was even a member of the Maryland Genealogical Society (MGS) and donated several items to the Maryland Historical Society.  Janelle holds copies of many early MGS newsletters.  Always interested in history, Janelle started to learn more about her ancestry in Maryland and to do her own research.  She joined Anne Arundel, Baltimore County and Maryland Genealogical Society in 2014 and later also joined Frederick, Prince George’s and Carroll societies. After regularly attending meetings and seminars, she was nominated in 2017 to serve as Advertising Editor of the MGS Journal and in 2018 became Recording Secretary for Anne Arundel Genealogical Society. Janelle moved to the area in 1998 after college to do legislative work on Capitol Hill and has since held several different positions, in and out of legislative work, around Maryland and DC.  Janelle currently works for the Maryland Department of Human Services doing procurement.   Janelle holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa; received her master’s degree in public administration from the University of Baltimore; and most recently a master’s of science degree in Law from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law in Baltimore, Maryland.  Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, she now lives in Pasadena, Maryland with her husband where she enjoys watching sports, reading, and spoiling her rescue beagles.

 

Heather O’Hara, a Maryland native, has been researching her family’s history for over fifteen years focusing on Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania as well as Northern Ireland, Germany, and Ukraine.  She is a past Vice President of the Anne Arundel Genealogical Society, where she was responsible for sourcing and booking monthly speakers as well as managing that portion of the society’s monthly meetings.  She has taken several courses with both NGS and NIGS and has done extensive research at both the Maryland State Archives and the Library of Virginia. Heather has attended numerous conferences and seminars on the national, regional, and local levels. She is a member of DAR, NGS, APG, MGS/MHS, The Virginia Genealogical Society, the genealogical/historical societies of Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford, and Stafford (VA) Counties, and the Jewish Genealogy Society of Maryland. 

 

Malissa Ruffner holds JD and MLS degrees from the University of Maryland and worked in a number of settings, including libraries and archives, before heeding the call of genealogy. She became a Board-certified genealogist in September of 2014. She is the Director of the Genealogical Institute on Federal Records that meets each summer at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.  She is also currently working for the Georgetown Memory Project, tracing descendants of slaves held on Jesuit plantations in Maryland. She joined the board of the Maryland Genealogical Society in 2012 as an at-large member, served two years as vice-president, and is now the editor of the Maryland Genealogical Society Journal.

 

Nancy Lee Waters is a researcher, lecturer, college instructor, and award-winning author. She has extensive speaking experience throughout the Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia area. She has presented at national and regional conferences including NGS, FGS, and RootsTech. She has published four family history books, one was awarded the 1997 Heart of America Genealogical Society Award of Excellence and her second book earned the 2007 National Genealogical Society Genealogical Writing Competition Award for Excellence: Genealogy and Family History. This book also earned the 2007 Maryland Historical Society’s Sumner A. Parker Award for best genealogy of a Maryland family. Nancy is the past Managing Editor for the Maryland Genealogical Society Journal, Secretary for the International Society of Family History Writers and Editors (ISHWE), past Director of the Genealogical Speakers Guild, and is an instructor for continuing education at Howard Community College, Columbia, Maryland, teaching Microsoft Office applications. She is a certified Microsoft Professional and member of multiple genealogical and historical societies.