Speakers

Confirmed speakers for Colloquium 2008 include the following:

Sharon Carmack
Colleen Fitzpatrick, Ph.D
Stephen P. Morse, Ph.D
Christine Rose
James W. Warren

Sharon DeBartolo Carmack
One of the most popular and entertaining speakers in the genealogical community, Sharon is a Certified Genealogist and partner in the Salt Lake City-based research and writing firm of Warren, Carmack & Associates. Along with specializing in Irish and Italian genealogical research, Sharon offers consulting, mentoring, writing and editing services for a variety of nonfiction books with an emphasis on memoirs, biographies, histories, family histories and annotated diaries. She is the author of 16 books and hundreds of articles and columns that have appeared in nearly every major genealogical journal and publication. Her books combined have sold roughly 115,000 copies.

Sharon's extensive and varied editing and mentoring experience in the field of genealogy for the past 20 years includes her position as the executive editor of F+W Publication's Family Tree/ Betterway Books line, where she acquired and edited more than 40 titles. The combined sales of this line exceeds one million copies, making Family Tree/Betterway Books America's best-selling guides to genealogy.

Along with a bachelor's degree in English from Regis University (summa cum laude), Sharon holds a diploma in Irish studies from the National University of Ireland, Galway. She teaches nonfiction writing classes for WritersOnlineWorkshops.com and is the host of "Roots Books" on RootsTelevision.com.

Colleen Fitzpatrick, Ph.D
Colleen is the author of two best-selling books in genealogy. Forensic Genealogy has been widely recognized for its innovative forensic science approach to genealogical research. Colleen’s second book DNA & Genealogy was co-authored with Andrew Yeiser; it was commissioned by Family Tree DNA for its Second Conference on Genetic Genealogy in November 2005 and has been called by readers “the ideal handbook for anyone starting out in genealogy using the DNA tools available” and “the book to get for someone starting or running a surname project.”

Colleen has been featured on NPR's Talk of the Nation with Neil Conan radio program, and The Wall Street Journal. She has written cover articles for Games Magazine(November 2007), Internet Genealogy (July 2007, June 2006), Family Tree Magazine (April 2006) and Family Chronicle (October 2005). Colleen also writes a regular column for Ancestry magazine.

Colleen is presently consulting with the U.S. Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in identifying the remains of the unknown child recovered from the wreck of the Titanic. She is also chairman of the Forensic Science Workshop at the annual Society of Photoinstrumentation Engineers (SPIE) Defense Security Symposium in Orlando. During her career as an expert in the optical sciences, Colleen has many years’ experience working for NASA and the National Science Foundation.

Stephen P. Morse, Ph.D
Stephen Morse is an amateur genealogist who has been researching his Russian-Jewish origins.  Several years ago he developed some Web-based searching aids which, much to his surprise, have attracted attention worldwide.  He has received both the Outstanding Contribution Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies, the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society and the first-ever Excellence Award from the Association of Professional Genealogists.

In his other life, Morse is a computer professional with a doctorate degree in electrical engineering from New York University. He has held research positions at Bell Labs, IBM Watson Research, GE Corporate R&D and Compagnie Internationale pour l'Informatique in France. He has been involved in development at Intel Corp, Alsys Inc and Netscape. He has taught at CCNY, Pratt Institute, UC Berkeley, SUNY Albany, Stanford University and San Francisco State. He has authored numerous technical papers, written four textbooks and holds four patents. He is best known as the architect of the Intel 8086 (the granddaddy of today's Pentium processor), which sparked the PC revolution 25 years ago.

Christine Rose, CG, CGL, FASG
Christine is a Certified Genealogist, a Certified Genealogical Lecturer and a full-time professional specializing in onsite research, military records research and land records. She was elected Fellow, American Society of Genealogists, an honor bestowed by peers based on quantity and quality of publications and limited to only 50 at any time. She has received the prestigious Donald Lines Jacobus award for two genealogy books and has served as a trustee of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, as vice president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and as director of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, for whom she also has been a columnist since the early 1990s.

She is a member of numerous genealogical societies, has compiled numerous genealogies and articles, and is founder and editor of the Rose Family Association. Her popular Courthouse Research for Family Historians has been widely praised, as has her Genealogical Proof Standard and her Courthouse Indexes Illustrated. Her Nicknames: Past & Present is now in its fifth edition. She is co-author of the The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy, often referred to as the best overall genealogical guide available. She is a Trustee of the Board for Certification of Genealogists, former vice president of the Association of Professional Genealogists and a member of numerous societies.

James W. Warren
The co-author of Your Guide to the Family History Library, Jim Warren is a professional genealogist, writer and speaker. A full-time professional for the past 19 years, he is based in Salt Lake City and also conducts research on-site across the U.S., in Ireland and in the British Isles.

A former president of the Irish Genealogical Society International, Jim was a trustee of the Association of Professional Genealogists and president of the Minnesota Genealogical Society. Jim served four years as vice president and 11 years as a director of the Federation of Genealogical Societies, the umbrella organization for North American genealogical societies. He has received the David S. Vogels Award for career contributions to FGS and its 600 member societies and the Smallwood Award of Merit from the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Jim is currently a partner in the research firm of Warren, Carmack & Associates. His research specialties include tracing American Indian and Irish ancestors, as well as U.S. research on New England, Midwestern, Southern and immigrant families.