A native of Maryland and a Navy veteran, Tom McCarriar has BS and MS degrees in Math from Duke University and Johns Hopkins University. He retired in 2015 from the Department of Defense after a 40-year career. Tom began his family research more than 25 years ago and has traced his McCarragher ancestors (through several alternate spellings) from County Tyrone, Northern Ireland to New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and finally to their arrival in Baltimore in 1830. After retiring, Tom expanded his interests to include genetic genealogy. He teaches a variety of traditional and genetic genealogy courses at Howard Community College, Anne Arundel County libraries, and for other state and local genealogical organizations. He has volunteered at the Maryland Archives for ten years, digitizing Maryland probate records that are now online on the FamilySearch website. Tom is a past president of the Anne Arundel Genealogical Society, where he moderates a DNA Special Interest Group. He provides advice on DNA testing strategies, interpreting results, and working with DNA matches to anyone interested in learning more about their genetic roots. Tom has served the past twelve years as an At-Large Member of the Executive Board of the Maryland Genealogical Society, and is a member of, and the MGS delegate to the National Genealogical Society.

 

Druscilla “Dru” Null, a Maryland native, has been researching her ancestors in Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New York for 40-plus years. Dru is the current President and Webmaster of the Maryland Genealogical Society and has been a member of that society’s Board of Directors since 2006. She has contributed several articles to the Maryland Genealogical Society Journal on a variety of topics, including German and  Italian immigrants to Baltimore and the genealogy of Babe Ruth. She has presented webinars on Maryland birth and death records for the Maryland Genealogical Society and the Baltimore Chapter of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. Dru completed the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy course “Maryland: Researching in the Old Line State,” graduated with honors from the National Genealogical Society Home Study Course, and completed the National Institute on Genealogical Research (now known as the Genealogical Institute of Federal Records). Professionally, she recently retired from the federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation.

 

Heather O’Hara, a Maryland native, has been researching her family’s history for twenty-five years focusing on Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania as well as Ireland, Germany, and Ukraine/Belarus. She is the Immediate Past President of the Maryland Genealogical Society and previously served as its Vice President. Heather was also Vice President of the Anne Arundel Genealogical Society and is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), the National Genealogical Society (NGS), and numerous county and ethnic genealogical societies.  She has taken several courses with NGS and NIGS and has participated in study groups focused on Thomas Jones’ books Mastering Genealogical Proof and Mastering Genealogical Documentation. She is currently part of a year-long study group reading, analyzing, and evaluating articles from the NGS Quarterly Magazine. Her genealogical interests include DNA analysis, mapping  and location-based research, and travel. She is preparing for her third annual visit to Northern Ireland to continue research on her grandmother’s ancestry, which she will have completed at the time of the Fall Seminar.