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Research

Lindsay Fulton

Chief Research Officer
Area of Expertise: State and Federal Censuses, New England, Ireland, and New York research, with a focus on research methodology and organization. Lindsay also oversees the research team working on the 10 Million Names project.

Twink Williams Burns

10 Million Names Researcher
Areas of Expertise: African American genealogy, Oklahoma and Freedmen of the Five Tribes, Mississippi, and generational Americans with enslaved and/or enslaver ancestors

Cynthia Evans

10 Million Names Research Director
Cynthia Evans holds an M.A. in Museum Science. She is a researcher, historian, and genealogist with more than ten years of experience in African American history and research and five years of experience managing a genealogy center.

Fitch Henry

Archivist
Fitch earned dual B.A.s in History and Education at Rowan University and holds an M.S. in Library and Information Science with a concentration in Information Science and Technology from Simmons College.

Judith Lucey

Senior Archivist
Areas of expertise: Irish genealogy, the Atlantic Canadian Provinces of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and New England.

Shalley Marshall

Archivist
Shalley Marshall received a B.S. in Psychology and a B.A. in Russian from Tulane University, and a M.S. in Library and Information Science, with an Archival Management focus, from Simmons University.

Anjelica Oswald

10 Million Names Senior Researcher
Areas of expertise: Revolutionary War and Massachusetts records, Spanish fluency

Todd Pattison

Conservator
Todd Pattison, Conservator, works to preserve and care for the collection of books, manuscripts, and fine art.

Danielle Rose

10 Million Names Volunteer Manager
Areas of interest: Colonial Massachusetts, Revolutionary War veterans, African American history

Research & Library Services

Sarah Dery

Director of Research & Library Services
Sarah Dery has been with American Ancestors since 2017 and works alongside the Vice President of Research & Library Services. She performs managerial work for the Research & Library Services team.

Colleen Alm

Researcher
Areas of expertise: Ireland, Scotland, Church Records

Christine Bachman-Sanders

Researcher
Areas of expertise: 19th and 20th century American and British history, crafting family history narratives, German fluency

Kiera Breitenbach

Senior Researcher
Areas of Expertise: Ireland, Midwestern/Western states

Peggy Sue Carpenter

Researcher
Areas of expertise: Midwestern States, German, old German Gothic script, England, French, and Latin.

Sheilagh Doerfler

Genealogist
Areas of expertise: DNA, Adoption, New England, New Netherland, Ireland, Atlantic Canada, Quebec, Ontario, Norway, and Sweden.

Zachary Garceau

Researcher
Areas of expertise: Rhode Island, French-Canadian Genealogy and Sports History. He also enjoys working on heraldic and royal research.

Jake Garfinkle

Researcher
Jake works in Research & Library Services as a Researcher, helping patrons with unresolved genealogical questions, both big and small.

Kate Gilbert

Researcher
Kate Gilbert has been a member of the Research Services team since 2023. She holds a BA in History from the University of New England, as well as a Master's Certificate in Museum Studies from Tufts University.

Beck Green

Researcher
Areas of Expertise: Colonial-era New England, Jewish history, and archival standards

Pam Guye Holland

Researcher
Areas of expertise: Irish immigration, Irish records, DNA, church records, German, New York (both city and state), and New England.

Hallie Kirchner

Genealogist
Areas of expertise: 19th-century America, Germany, New York, New York City, Norway, Italy, westward migration, immigration history, and descendancy research.

Abe Laxague

Researcher
Abe is a graduate of McGill University, having earned a BA in History with minor focuses in Linguistics and World Religions.

Kimberly Mannisto

Researcher
Areas of expertise: Early Pennsylvania Settlers, Colonial New Jersey, Quaker records, Midwest (Michigan and Ohio), Finnish, DNA, Descendancy research, Scottish and English hereditary peerage titles, and Scottish genealogy.

Angela Napolitano

Researcher
Areas of expertise: American genealogy, Ireland, Italy, and DNA.

Peggy Polydoros

Researcher
Areas of Expertise: Greek ancestry, Greek American organizations, history of the Mediterranean, Orthodox Christianity, early 20th century immigration, and archaeology

Paul Sanborn

Researcher
Areas of Expertise: New England, Ireland, Italy, and Scotland

Jen Shakshober

Senior Researcher
Areas of expertise: Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont, North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland.

Natalia Vega-Munguia

Research Services Coordinator
Natalia graduated from Boston University with a BA in History and a minor in History of Art and Architecture. She has previously worked for Revolutionary Spaces in Boston.

Aidan Walsh

Senior Researcher
Areas of Expertise: DNA, New England, Atlantic Canada, Quebec, and Italy

Julia Williams

Researcher
Areas of Expertise: African Americans, Enslaved Africans, Colonial America, Revolutionary War, and New England

Database Projects

Zobeida Chaffee-Valdes

Database Services Volunteer Coordinator
Zobeida leads the volunteer program for Database Services and assists with creating and improving the database offerings on the American Ancestors website.

Theresa Giard

Database Projects Manager
Theresa's passion for history led her to pursue her master's degree at Salem State University. Before joining American Ancestors she spent the last ten years working in higher education with a focus on project and data management.

Hale Murch

Digitization Assistant
Hale is responsible for scanning and indexing documents for the online archives.

Amanda Opalenik

Database Projects Coordinator
Amanda assists with creating and improving the genealogical databases. She started at American Ancestors as an indexing volunteer in 2020 and then joined the database team in 2021 as a digitization assistant.

Alicia Crane Williams, FASG

ENEF Genealogist
Prior to joining the American Ancestors staff as Lead Genealogist of the Early New England Families Study Project, Alicia compiled and edited numerous important genealogical publications.