Help:Members/Archive

Dawn Ellis
Dawn is a team leader in the Cemeterists Project covering Prince Edward Island cemeteries and leads a DNA group project to organize Y-DNA results for the Ellis surname. [interview]

Beth Stephenson
Beth is a team leader for the US Southern Colonies Project. "I don't want my research to die on a paid site that my children and grandchildren might never see. On the free WikiTree, I believe that it will be preserved and in a better form than on the paid sites. Certainly, WikiTree is more accurate than the paid sites." [interview]

Maxx Martin
"I love researching and improving profiles of people from all over the world as a Data Doctor and Connector but also work on more local New Zealand projects, such as photographing headstones at cemeteries in my area." [interview]

Marta Johnson
Marta is active in our Sweden and Germany projects. "WikiTree is a broad and diverse community represented by all kinds of people. Many are professionals, specialists, historians, or have a particular familiarity or skill. I am impressed not only by the capacity of our users to, say, decipher chicken scratch handwriting or truffle up information buried in an obscure database, but also their generosity in sharing those skills." [interview]

Mark Weinheimer
Mark's favorite thing about WikiTree "is the wonderful spirit of good will, and the courteous demeanor of members. The help I have received here, on so many occasions, has been inspirational." [interview]

Brad Stauf
Brad volunteers as a Project Coordinator for the Puritan Great Migration (PGM) Project. He helps new members with standards, editing, and sourcing on these challenging early American ancestors. [interview]

Betty Norman
Betty is active in the US Southern Colonies Project. "WikiTree, plus some top-notch WikiTree mentors, have taught me a great deal about sourcing: What are the trustworthy sources? Where do you find them? Which ones should be avoided, and why? A biography is nothing more than fiction if it is not backed up by good sources." [interview]

Dieter Lewerenz
Dieter leads the Germany Project's Translation Team and helps out in the Military and War Project. "I want to recognize Dieter Lewerenz for so consistently, quickly and thoroughly helping any and everyone who seeks help with German translations and genealogical research. I wonder how many brick walls he has broken for German-Americans." —Kathy Rabenstein [interview]

Joelle Colville-Hanson
Joelle is a Cemeterist and leads the Illinois Team in the United States Project and the Argyll Team in the Scotland Project "I joined WikiTree in 2014 but found it confusing. I pretty much left it alone until 2018 when I discovered more about my father's family. Once I got the hang of it there was no going back." [interview]

Laura DeSpain
Laura is one of our friendly Greeters and is a team leader in the US Southern Colonies and England projects. "I love that we all work together, and that it means something to all of us," writes Laura. "WikiTree has helped me learn to research older documents better, source better and build better biographies." [interview]

Pam Cormac
Pam is an Ambassador and Greeter and is active in the Global Cemeteries, South Africa, and Profile Improvement projects. "WikiTree is full of wonderful people contributing freely to our shared family tree. It makes me enormously proud to be a part of that. Together we can do anything." [interview]

Ben Molesworth
Australia Project member Ben enjoys following surnames: "I will make contact with new people researching the same names, or will check their work, to see if I can help find connections for them. If they are working in Australia, I will often source an unsourced profile for them, and create a basic biography, to help demonstrate how our profiles can appear better." [interview]

Andrew Simpier
Andrew is a member of the US Civil War Project. He enjoys creating profiles for veterans of the New York regiments and helping other members research their Civil War ancestors. [interview]

Christine Lajeunesse
In between researching her own French Canadian ancestral lines, Acadians Project member Christine acts as an Adoption Angel helping adoptees build trees for their French Canadian DNA matches. [interview]

Nancy Wilson
"I am working on an anniversary project. I pick an ancestor from my watchlist that was born or died on this date and try to flesh out their profiles. I don't mind going down a few rabbit holes. When I want something easier to work on, I like to go to the unsourced list for New Jersey from the 1800s. I have learned some local history that way." [interview]

C. Ryder
"When the US Black Heritage Project was re-started this year by Emma MacBeath, I joined with a purpose. ... There are many incredibly knowledgeable members in this group, and discussions are awesome. I appreciate peoples' good online manners — a must for fruitful conversations. I hope to use my new WikiTree skills (searching for resources, building biographies) to further build profiles of Black Americans." [interview]

Denise Jarrett
"Remember you are not alone in the search! You are now a member of a global genealogy collaboration team who is willing and able to help you with any questions or challenges you may have." [interview]

Kelsey Jackson Williams
Kelsey leads the Baltic-German Team in the Germany Project. "WikiTree is unique in offering the possibility of collaboration at a sufficiently scholarly level. ... for genuine and continuous improvement." [interview]

Pamela Culy
Pamela began her genealogical journey to find her biological father. Now she spends most of her time on WikiTree volunteering as an Adoption Angel helping adoptees and others find their biological parents. "I like building family trees and researching .... I get satisfaction 'paying it forward' to someone who faced the same hurdles as I once did." [interview]

Gene Ellison
Gene operates an Ellison Name Study and has been generously creating profiles and family histories for former slaves as part of the Freedmen Narratives project. [interview]

Sondra Marshall
"I am a member of the Global Cemeteries Project and have slowly been working on various historic cemeteries in West Central Nebraska. I am also a member of the Military and War Project and Westward Ho!, where [one] of my larger pet projects concern ... Buffalo Soldiers and Civil War veterans who took up homesteads after the war in Nebraska." [interview]

Margaret Allison
Margaret is a member of the New Zealand Project, where she's been contributing to profiles of women who signed the Suffrage petition in 1893, and the Scotland Project, where she's been improving her research skills on the "Tartan Trail." [interview]

Chandra Garrow
Chandra is a friendly Greeter and participates in the Wisconsin Project where she's been developing Chippewa and Dunn county pages and creating profiles for local people. [interview]

Dave Ebaugh
Dave is active in our US Black Heritage, Accessibility Angels and Quakers projects. "One contribution to the universe I'm working on right now is a page compiling my research on the Colorado African Emigration Company. There is nothing on the internet that gathers together information on this organization." [interview]

John Rosser
Australia Project member John's favorite things about WikiTree: "1.) I love that we're all working together towards building one accurate, well-sourced tree and that we're pooling our individual talents to help each other... 2.) WikiTree has the best balance between collaboration and privacy: it's not a choice between 'sharing everything' or 'sharing nothing'. 3.) It is FREE." [interview]

Mike Butler
England and Scotland project member Mike uses WikiTree's Family Anniversaries feature every day to share profiles with cousins on Facebook. He enjoys participating in challenges with the Kiwi Crew. [interview]

Kathie Forbes
Kathie is a Virginia Project and Native Americans Project member. "The longer I am here the more I value the friendliness, helpfulness, and incredible body of knowledge of WikiTreers. The idea that a random stranger would spend hours poring over a barely-legible 16th century document to find a baptismal record for me is just astounding." [interview]

Terri Swift
Terri helps review lines from Gateway Ancestors to the Surety Barons for the Magna Carta Project. She also leads the 5-Star Profile Improvement Team for the Germany Project and recently joined the new Medieval Project. [interview]

Mary Gorman
Mary coordinates a Gorman Name Study, participates in the Australia Project, and helps protect our tree as a Ranger. "I would encourage you to participate in projects. It is rewarding working with other members and can give you a group to bounce ideas off and learn from." [interview]

Beverly Benfer
Beverly has been a member since 2014. "Recently I realized that a classmate who had died during the Vietnam War had been almost forgotten by those who had been his close friends. To honor others who may be similarly forgotten, I began working on WikiTree's Roll of Honor. I have focused on adding those from Pennsylvania (my home state) who died during the Vietnam War." [interview]

Ian Speed
Ian recently co-founded the Accessibility Angels Project to help people with disabilities access, enjoy, and contribute to WikiTree. "I joined WikiTree in 2017. Like most people, I focused on my own family at first. I then progressed to adding other families with the same surnames. Then, last year, I signed-up for the England Project and discovered a whole new world of WikiTree collaboration!" [interview]

Rosalie Neve
Rosalie is a member of the Indigenous Australians Project and England Project. She loves how collaboration enables us to put together the pieces of our great family puzzle. "For my Aboriginal family history in particular the pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that each individual brings are valuable to try and put the whole picture together. This is critical when so much of the details were never written down by us." [interview]

Laurie Giffin
Laurie leads the Atlantic Canada Team and volunteers her language skills on le Portail Francophone and bilingual categorization. "We all save a lot of time and effort when we build on each other's research. I have met so many wonderful people, and have learned so much more about my ancestors than I could ever have achieved alone." [interview]

Alexandra Carter
Alexandra is active in the Canada and Dutch Roots projects. "My favorite thing about WikiTree is the community. My research has really benefited from discoveries made by other WikiTree genealogists, and I've built my own knowledge through G2G conversations and community challenges .... don't be afraid to reach out to the community for help, because they'll generously give it!" [interview]

Sharon Hinshaw-Payne
Sharon spends most of her time adopting orphan Hinshaw profiles and connecting their family lines to the Global Tree. She also participates in the Pennsylvania Settlers, US Civil War, and Ireland projects. [interview]

Alicia Taylor
Alicia photographs headstones for the Cemeteries Project and adopts profiles to improve for the Profile Improvement Project. "On other sites, the whole purpose is to attach a record. Sometimes, that goes so quickly, you never really get to know your ancestor. On WikiTree, I've learned to really tell their story — where they lived, what they did, who they were." [interview]

Ludwig Kraayenbrink
A member since 2012, Ludwig is a Greeter, Data Doctor and Connector and participates in the Dutch Roots and Indonesia projects. His family says he's obsessed. He says "WikiTree relaxes me." [interview]

B. W. J. Molier
Netherlands Project member B. W. J. Molier likes to practice "random acts of genealogical kindness" for WikiTreers in the US, Canada, Australia, and South Africa who are searching for their Dutch ancestors. [interview]

Chase Ashley
Chase created the Ancestor ListMaker app to enable members to browse or export up to 20 generations in custom configurations. See his app announcement. [interview]

Tara Wildes
Tara enjoys community challenges and coordinates a one name study for Wildes. "A distant cousin told me about WikiTree and I was hooked at first look. I love being able to share research and collaborate with others in an organized manner." [interview]

Lucy Robinson
Lucy is a Connector, Data Doctor and Sourcerer and also participates in our Germany Project. "I love WikiTree because of the rules. When I read profiles where the rules have been followed I feel I can trust the information." [interview]

Jaki Erdoes
Jaki participates in our Palatine Migration, Hungary and Scotland projects and 52 Photos challenge. "The sense of community and collaboration, and the commitment to a single, well-sourced family tree is important to me." [interview]

Don Howard
Don is a Sourcerer and member of our Germany and Notables projects. "I like WikiTree because high standards of sourcing are promoted, and there are a lot of group activities." [interview]

Claire Nava
"I've been on WikiTree for just over five years. I have gone as far back as I can with most of my direct ancestors, so now I'm volunteering with the Greeters. ... My new current favorite is being a Data Doctor. I was an English teacher for a number of years, so it's nice to use my detective and proofreading skills to help people strengthen their profiles." [interview]

Brad Cunningham
"I spend a lot of time on the Dorset, Somerset, & Cornwall teams in the England Project. ... I have to say that I believe one of the best things about WikiTree is the Orphans Trail. I hope that one day it will be something that everyone who joins WikiTree will take to start their journey." [interview]

Sarah Mason
"I am the Membership Coordinator for the Scottish Clans Team, Team Leader for Scotland Connectors, and a member of various other Scotland teams. I am also the Project Coordinator for the Nebraska subproject of the United States Project. In One Name Studies, I coordinate for Mason, Gore, and McGannon." [interview]

Mark Sutherland-Fisher
"I look after around 4,000 profiles of members of my extended family. I have the privilege of being a member of the leadership team of the new Scotland Project with special responsibility for Scottish Clans and Scottish Nobility. I therefore spend roughly half my time on WikiTree encouraging and supporting other members, especially those newer to genealogy, and the other half improving profiles." [interview]

Jackie Prentice
"Apart from my One Place Study of Kirkby, Lancashire, I am part of the Cemeteries Project where I concentrate on military graves within the Moray area of Scotland. I have recently begun to learn Connecting with the help of the wonderful Carol Keeling. My main focus at the moment is being the Project Membership Coordinator for the Scotland Project." [interview]

Becky Troth
"I joined WikiTree fairly recently, in May 2019, so less than a year ago, and I am addicted! I was quickly introduced to the fantastic England Project and their wonderful Orphan Trail. I'm now the team leader for the England Project's Shropshire Team, Shropshire being very close to my heart, and I have started two one-name studies, Troth and Elcock." [interview]

Cheryl Skordahl
"I couldn't say enough about how much I enjoy the Puritan Great Migration Project. Our two leaders are fantastically encouraging and helpful. ... I'm also active in the United States Project, Profile Improvement Project, and 52 Ancestors. I've found my WikiTree home among the fabulous genealogical friends within these projects." [interview]

Michael Schell
Palatine Migration Project member Michael likens WikiTree to a collaborative jigsaw puzzle where the pieces you're putting together eventually connect with the pieces others have put together. "That process of hooking up is the funnest part about jigsaw puzzles and also the funnest part about WikiTree." [interview]

David Urquhart
David volunteers as an Arborist, Connector, Ranger, and Sourcerer. "I have found WikiTree to be extremely addictive and move about whereever the distraction takes me. I enjoy being involved in projects because of the interaction and collaboration." [interview]

Paula Franklin
Paula is active in the Global Cemeteries, Categorization, and Data Doctors projects. Her advice to new members: ask questions in G2G. "Remember, it is not your tree or my tree, but our tree, and each and every one of us has a vested interest in improving and sourcing it. We will be happy to help you." [interview]

Todd Stanton
Todd is a Project Coordinator for the Rhode Island and Westward Ho projects. "I am now working with one local county historical society which has decided to use WikiTree as its platform for building profiles of its early county residents." [interview]

Peter Roberts
Peter co-founded the DNA Project and leads a Bahamas Project. "From genetic genealogy I have learned that we are indeed all cousins of each other to some degree," says Peter. "The quest is to find what traditional genealogical records exist to help reveal HOW we are related." [interview]

Danielle Liard
Danielle leads the Québec Team in the Canada Project and is a major contributor to Québécois projects and categorization. She loves the collaboration on WikiTree. "We often don't have access to all the same sources ... asking about something on G2G gets some amazing answers." [interview]

Margaret Summitt
Margaret enjoys practicing "Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness" and making connections for others on WikiTree. She's a frequent participant in the casual weekend chat. [interview]

Bill Sims
Bill has earned both "52 in 52" badges — for sharing 52 photos and 52 ancestor profiles in 52 consecutive weeks. "When I first started participating in the WikiTree project I got a little frustrated as there were so many options," says Bill. His advice to new members: "take advantage of the tutorials, don't be bashful and ask the experts questions. They are always eager to help." [interview]

Wendy Taylor
Wendy helps coordinate the Greeters Project, which she sees a "24 hour service desk" for new members. She enjoys "helping other people make the most of WikiTree." [interview]

Katie Goodwin
Katie joined WikiTree in 2018 because she was looking for "1) a free site 2) where people could see my work without logging in and 3) looked like it was going to be around for a long time." She now helps protect our shared tree during two shifts a week as a Ranger. [interview]

Greta Moody
Greta is a Greeter, a Cemeterist, and a member of the Palatine Migration Project. "I think reading the New Member How-To is the best way to figure WikiTree out. New members should feel free to ask anything ... I'm always willing to answer any questions." [interview]

Astrid Spaargaren
Astrid is a Dutch Roots Project member and one of our friendly, welcoming Greeters. "It took a while before I was able to make nice profiles at WikiTree with links to reliable sources, images, etc. But fortunately I received the best help ... people are all volunteers here, equal and very friendly." [interview]

Julie Ricketts
Julie is one of our community's most committed and generous volunteers. Julie co-leads the WikiTree Mentors and volunteers as a Mediator. "The most fundamental thing that I love about WikiTree is the One Profile Per Person philosophy. The more I work in this sort of environment, the less I understand why anyone would want to work on their family in any other way." [interview]

Walter Howe
Walter Howe is a dedicated researcher of the Howe surname and participates as a WikiTree Ranger, Data Doctor and Connector. "One thing I enjoy doing on WikiTree is finding a newly entered, unconnected Howe and then researching and linking the person to the greater tree." [interview]

Mags Gaulden
Mags is a leading member of WikiTree's DNA Project. "I LOVE WikiTree's DNA features! WikiTree does things with DNA that no other genealogy site does, we combine community, collaboration and we do DNA the 'backwards' right way. We post DNA testers to the ancestors' profiles!" [interview]

Lizzie Griffiths
Lizzie helps lead the England and Titanic projects. "This is without a doubt the most collaborative community in genealogy. I truly feel like I have a family here." [interview]

Joan Whitaker
Joan co-leads the England Project and is active in the Mining Disasters Project. "WikiTree has made me a better genealogist. Since joining I have improved my researching skills, and now look for information in places that I would never have thought about before. My research is documented better and my ancestors have become real people, rather than just names." [interview]

Peggy Watkins
Peggy is a team leader in the British Columbia Project. Her favorite thing about WikiTree is the community. "I think of it as social media with a purpose! You meet interesting characters that all enjoy the same hobby but otherwise come from a wide variety of backgrounds and perspectives." [interview]

Cari Starosta
Cari contributes to the German Roots and Holocaust projects and enjoys helping with unsourced and unconnected profiles. "I love the collaborative spirit on WikiTree. I love that everyone can contribute to all profiles." [interview]

Cheryl Hess
"My favorite thing about WikiTree is how close you can become to people that you have never met. By working together in G2G, or maybe working with the "Greatest Gang" (Greeters), or coordinating with other members to find sources, it really does feel like everyone is working together toward one goal." [interview]

Margaret Haining
Margaret is active in the Data Doctors, Australia and Categorization projects. "So often, especially working on other sites, family history seems a bit lonely ... here on WikiTree you have access to all sorts of profiles across the world, and can 'talk' to as many or as few people as you choose, from all over the world, all on a similar journey." [interview]

Frank Santoro
Frank is a team leader for the Italy Project. "I like to go through the G2G postings looking for members with Italian heritage to see if I can help them beef up their Italian lines. I've gotten a couple of Generous Genealogist awards for the contributions I've made to help folks break through brick walls." [interview]

Tanya Lowry
"WikiTree is a must have in every home ... it's a good place to keep a tree free forever," says Tanya. It makes her "happy knowing that whatever happens to me, that info will help explain my path and my research will be intact." [interview]

Hilary Gadsby
Hilary has been a member for 8+ years. She leads the England Project's help desk and coordinates county teams for the Wales Project. She's also one of the generous Greeters who welcome new members. [interview]

Shannon Thomas
Shannon Thomas has been a member since 2013. She's active in our Profile Improvement Project, helps protect our tree as a Ranger, and shares the WikiTree Love as a "Tree Hugger" on the Appreciation Team. "WikiTree has given me many new ancestors, has helped me make genealogy friends, and I have learned a lot about research." [interview]

Melanie Paul
Melanie is currently working on unsourced profiles for the Australia Project. She particularly likes contributing to ANZAC veteran profiles. She appreciates being part of a collaborative community. "If we get stuck on something, or need to understand something, there's usually someone else who knows what we don't." [interview]

Jeff Timmons
Jeff is currently attempting to identify and document all the descendants of his known ancestors. "For a few of my third great grandparents, I have identified and documented close to 1,000 descendants of each." [interview]

Jim Angelo
"I did an extensive search to find what I thought was the right combination of an online, free-to-all, comprehensive genealogical database; sufficient but unobtrusive governance; and a collegial, congenial, cooperative atmosphere in support of mutually-shared objectives. WikiTree was the clear winner." [interview]

L. Ray Sears
Ray has started a Sears surname project, contributes to two cemetery projects — The Ancient Sears Cemetery and Quivet Neck Cemetery — and is active in the Puritan Great Migration Project. [interview]

Patricia Ferdig
"Currently, I'm working on adding profiles, biographies, and sourcing the casualties from Arrow Air Flight 1285. I've also recently joined the Cemeterists and enjoy tromping through cemeteries for pictures, then researching and writing up a history of the cemetery." [interview]

Deb Durham
Deb is co-leading the new Volunteer Coordinators project and the Appreciation Team (the "Tree Huggers"). "There quite simply is no other genealogy site that even comes close to the atmosphere of shared goals, helpfulness, and inclusion that WikiTree offers." [interview]

Alexis Nelson
Alexis is an Adoption Angel and a member of the US Civil War, 1776, Quakers projects. Recently she's been "having the best time ever" doing the 52 Photos and 52 Ancestors sharing challenges together with a cousin. [interview]

Traci Thiessen
"I'm co-coordinator of the Perkins Name Study with Clyde Perkins who recently added new WikiTree profiles for all the Perkins men who were killed in Vietnam along with their military information, etc. I then wrote their biographies and tried to connect them to the global tree." [interview]

Leif Kristensen
Leif coordinates the Norway Project and helps protect our shared tree as a Ranger. "I like the WikiTree focus on quality research, and the promise to keep the data around. ... And of course it's a great community here, which I love being a part of." [interview]

Alex Stronach
Alex helps coordinate Saturday Sourcing Sprints. "In the beginning, I didn't really grasp the WikiTree ethos ... now it's become my favorite genealogy site to work with. The other sites have their pros and cons, and I'm not dismissing them, but once you get the hang of it, WikiTree is where it's at." [interview]

Keith Cook
Keith is a member of the Military and War and Sweden projects and operates two one name studies. He likes to improve profiles on his Watchlist by sequence of birthdays. "Whenever I get a weekly WikiTree email, I go down the birthday list for that week." [interview]

Leslie Cooper
Leslie is a prolific contributor, earning the Club 1,000 badge almost every month, and he's active in our Australia Project. "I love the concept of building one family tree ... the level of collaboration is amazing." [interview]

Janet Wild
Janet is one of our friendly Greeters and she's active in the England and Irish Roots projects. She is the Team Captain for the Sandringham Strollers in the upcoming Spring Clean-a-Thon. Janet loves the "collaboration, sharing and support from other members" on WikiTree. [interview]

Bart Triesch
Bart is a member of our Westward Ho and German Roots projects. "Much of my time is spent on improving my sources and adding to them," writes Bart. "I have developed genealogy colleagues from all over the world. We collaborate constantly, chipping away at shared brick walls." [interview]

Thomas Fuller
Thomas leads a Fuller One Name Study and is a Sourcerer for the Michigan Project. "I try to whittle away at Unsourced Michigan profiles. ... Involvement at WikiTree has taught me to have high standards on sourcing and documentation." [interview]

Caryl Ruckert
Caryl enjoys Biography Builders challenges and is currently growing the Scots-Irish and Ulster Scots project. "I started my family tree at a subscription site and I really wasted so much time chasing wild geese. ... The tools available and the members at WikiTree make me a better genealogist." [interview]

Kylie Haese
Kylie is a member of the Australia, Global Cemeteries, and German Roots projects. "I am Project Coordinator for the Oceania cemeteries team for Global Cemeteries ... I am quite passionate about making graves easily accessible to family researchers." [interview]

Jelena Eckstädt
Jelena is a member of the German Roots, Slavic Roots, and Canada projects, and often creates a profile for the Notables Project when a celebrity passes away. "I really like the collaboration aspect of WikiTree, the collective knowledge that pours out in G2G. ... When I see that someone needs something in German, I always try to help." [interview]

Kay Sands
Kay is a Data Doctor, Sourcerer, and Mayflower Project member. Like many of our generous genealogists, she often chooses a random profile to improve. [interview]

Rodney Long
Rodney helps out as a Data Doctor and enjoys our G2G Q&A forum. "I have time set aside every day just to read the questions and answers. I do not think there is a day goes by that I do not learn something. In addition, members are very willing to help and give guidance when they are asked." [interview]

Louise Halpin
Louise "fell in love with the concept of one person, one family, one tree, one world!" She enjoys Saturday Sourcing Sprints and working on the genealogy of Chester A. Arthur and Rutherford B. Hayes for the US Presidents Project. [interview]

Alison Wilkins
Alison has been a WikiTreer for five years. She likes to "flit between profiles" sometimes using Special:Anniversaries to choose an ancestor who was born, died, or married on this day. Now she is trying the new 52 Ancestors challenge to select profiles to improve and share. [interview]

Robin Helstrom
Robin coordinates North American cemeteries for our Global Cemeteries Project. "It's so thrilling to me to be able to connect with other users and to see my work is making a difference not only for myself, but for the genealogy community in general." [interview]

Paula Hawkins
Paula Hawkins participates in Military and War projects and enjoys G2G Integrators and Data Doctors challenges. "This is how I learn and have fun at the same time." [interview]

Sharon Caldwell
Sharon is active in the South African Roots and United Kingdom projects. She appreciates how WikiTree collaboration leads to genealogy that is "way more accurate than on any other family tree site." [interview]

Rick San Soucie
Rick is involved in the Quebecois and French Roots projects. "I also participate in a number of the Data Doctors Challenges ... I like being able to contribute to the overall health of WikiTree profiles." [interview]

Doug McCallum
Doug is active in the Canada Project with a special focus on Prince Edward Island. He's also doing a project to document the World War I soldiers of New Brunswick. [interview]

Gigi Tanksley
Gigi participates in the Westward Ho!, Southern Colonies and Louisiana Families projects. "Everyone has something valuable to contribute to WikiTree no matter who they are or what their background is." [interview]

Carolyn Martin
"I joined WikiTree in February of 2015, and have been addicted ever since. After I got my family entered, I joined the Cemetery Project and eventually set up free space pages on about seven cemeteries. I would go take photographs, then research the people and set up profiles on them if they weren't already on WikiTree. ... I love the idea of a One World Tree." [interview]

Paula Cullen
Paula is a Sourcerer, Connector, Data Doctor. "I love the collaboration on WikiTree and the fact that it allows you to correct longstanding genealogy errors that are propagated by other websites .... It also provides great cousin bait which has led to me finding out some interesting stories about my ancestors." [interview]

Fran Weidman
Fran enjoys sourcing — she was the top-scorer in the 2018 Source-a-Thon — and connecting people to our global tree. "I love being a part of the England Project and have met so many wonderful people that share the same passion." [interview]

Gaile Connolly
Gaile enjoys enriching profiles "with as many sources as I can find and writing biographies as full as I can." She especially enjoys doing this collaboratively. "I find it so rewarding to work on profiles with other members. My very best experiences have been working on military heroes." [interview]

Peggy McReynolds
"Most of my time is still spent improving profiles and developing new WikiTree skills. In the past few months I've been using G2G more often. I enjoy getting to know other WikiTree members that are regularly using the forum; what an incredible mix of people willing to help." [interview]

SJ Baty
SJ is a Project Coordinator for the Spain and Early Pennsylvania Settlers projects and volunteers as a Data Doctor, Sourcerer and Ranger. "I was very turned off by the sites that are happy to take the research I've done, and then charge a subscription to sell it to my cousins. ... Once I tried WikiTree, I was hooked. It is open, fosters collaboration, and I believe it will be here in the long run." [interview]

Mary Richardson
Mary is a Ranger and Greeter, and she helps lead a number of Military and War projects. "I like all of WikiTree. I like the common ancestors, the feeling of 'belonging' and the relationship finder. I like the extra work we all do to make the place perfect." [interview]

Karen Butler
Karen is active in the England and Worldwide Disasters projects and is one of our friendly Greeters. "I find greeting very enjoyable. I like helping people, in the way I was helped when I started. Also with some of the questions I have been asked, the new members are helping me .... I am learning with them, and if I cannot find the answer then other members of the team are very helpful." [interview]

Elizabeth Winter
Elizabeth is an active Connector. "I spent a few months on people who have counties named after them in the USA. I did about half the people in that category, profiles and connecting." She's also an active Cemeterist — she coordinates work on Connecticut cemeteries. [interview]

Mindy Silva
"I usually split my time up between cousin collaboration, projects such as PGM (Puritan Great Migration) and Data Doctors, Mentoring and Greeting help, and browsing through G2G. Lately, though, a lot of my time was spent working with Susie MacLeod on the new Portugal Project. [interview]

Saundra Stewart
Saundra is busy in the Ohio Project profiling early settlers. "Right now I'm in Jackson county which led me to create a special category for Welsh Settlements in Ohio. That is a perfect companion to the Ohio, African-American Settlements which I started to record the freed slaves who relocated in the state." [interview]

Bonnie Saunders
Bonnie is the Spain Project coordinator and enjoys the weekly challenges. "I have had several people contact me via WikiTree about specific ancestors, asking for information or scans, and they in turn have provided me with all kinds of useful data, anecdotes and pictures that have enriched the profiles I've posted." [interview]

Steven Tibbetts
Steven is active in our G2G (Genealogist-to-Genealogist) Forum and weekly Data Doctor Challenges. "When I first joined WikiTree the only family I knew went as far as my grandparents. ... Now I'm finding relatives from the Mayflower and even earlier." [interview]

Amy Utting
Amy is active in the Irish Roots and New Zealand projects, recently became a Mentor, and investigates suggestions for cleaning up our shared tree as a Data Doctor. "Not only do I get a great sense of satisfaction from helping cleaning up what I can, but it's also immensely satisfying for my OCD." [interview]

Juha Soini
Juha leads the Finland Project, helps improve our shared tree as a Data Doctor, and generously helps new members as a Mentor. [interview]

William Foster Jr.
William leads the Virginia Project and is an avid user of our DNA features. "Whenever I find DNA connections, one of the first things I do is try to get them to create a profile on WikiTree and help them connect it up to the rest of the tree along the path to our shared ancestor." [interview]

Edie Kohutek
Edie is active in our G2G forum, enjoys participating in challenges, and is working on a Frazier One Name Study. "I think G2G is my favorite thing because it is where the WikiTree community comes together to discuss issues and resolve problems.  It is what sets this genealogy site apart from all others." [interview]

Wendy Sullivan
Wendy Sullivan is one of our friendly Greeters and co-leads the England Project and Spain Project. "There are so many wonderful people involved in these projects, who are giving so much of their time .... I am very privileged to work alongside them all!" [interview]

Dave Rutherford
Dave volunteers with the Rangers, Canadian and UK projects. "I have been astonished at the number of folks who have contacted me over the years [through WikiTree] ... I've worked with folks from Chengdu, China to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Every day is a new adventure. I don't know who I will hear from when I turn on my computer!" [interview]

Robin Kabrich
Robin has been a WikiTreer for five years. She's active in Military and War projects, including the US Civil War Project — she has paternal great-grandparents who fought on opposite sides. [interview]

Loretta Corbin
Loretta is an active Data Doctor and co-led the Southern Super Sweepers in our recent Clean-a-Thon. Her advice for new members: "Don't be afraid to ask questions, we have all been a newbie at one time or another. You will be surprised how much you will learn if you allow others to help you." [interview]

Gilly Wood
Gilly has been on WikiTree for six years. She's an active Greeter who welcomes new members to our community. And sometimes she goes much further than a simple welcome. "It is very exciting helping others locate their ancestors," says Gilly. [interview]

Thom Anderson
Thom is active in our DNA and WT Apps projects. He is developing an application to diagram how the families of DNA matches overlap to help you confirm relationships. [interview]

Carol Keeling
Carol helps with Sussex County for the England Project and works as a Data Doctor and Connector. "Having started to build my tree over 35 years ago, uploading my research to WikiTree has encouraged me to revisit each person ... as I work through them I feel more confident that it is proven to be correct, and will be freely available for other researchers to use." [interview]

Nicolas LaPointe
Nicolas is a member of the Irish Roots, Jewish Roots, Quebecois projects, but is now spending most of his time adding and improving Japanese profiles. [interview]

Nan Lambert
Nan has been active on WikiTree for five years. "These days, I've been spending the most time on data doctoring, and on a small project I started to build profiles of the victims of the Cherry Mine Disaster in 1909." [interview]

Lance Martin
As an "unfocused researcher," Lance appreciates that WikiTree enables him to pursue his interests while keeping everything organized for himself and others in the future. "The most important thing is to have fun finding your place in history," he says. [interview]

Gillian Thomas
Gillian co-leads the UK and England projects and the Worldwide Disasters Project. "My favourite thing about WikiTree is that we are creating a whole genealogical resource for the future. ... I am excited to be part of bringing that vision to life." [interview]

Michelle Ladner
Michelle shares her six years of experience on WikiTree by helping "newts" and "newgs" as a WikiTree Mentor. Michelle says that mentoring inspires her to be a better genealogist herself. [interview]

Kitty (Munson) Cooper
Kitty is a leading genetic genealogy blogger and a champion for the combined power of DNA testing and a single family tree. "I blog about WikiTree a lot," says Kitty, "and mention it in just about every presentation I give." [interview]

Kristina Wheeler
Kristina enjoys participating in the Black Sheep Project and reviewing WikiTree+ suggestions. "WikiTree got me back into genealogy again," writes Kristina. "It is what the genealogy world needed, a place to preserve the legacy and humanity of who we are." [interview]

David Douglass
David is the Magna Carta Project coordinator. "When I first started as a new member I made all kind of mistakes," says David. "A very knowledgeable mentor gently turned me around and once I started doing things the WikiTree way I found that my profiles looked better, were more accurate and my research skills improved because a mentor cared enough to help me." [interview]

Kathryn Lake Hogan
Kathryn is a professional genealogist who has been a WikiTree member for eight years. "I love that most WikiTreers are serious about wanting to work collaboratively and create well sourced profiles for our ancestors," she writes. And she loves "the monthly challenges to help us achieve that," such as the Sourcerers and Bio Builders challenges. [interview]

Marty Acks
Marty has been making over 1,000 contributions to WikiTree every month for three years. He's active in the Scottish Clans and Sourcerers projects, and has found the Data Doctor suggestions "rather consuming as of late." This year he started speaking about WikiTree at local genealogy groups. [interview]

Jillaine Smith
Jillaine was one of our first project leaders and helped develop many of our style rules and policies. She co-leads the Puritan Great Migration project and actively participates in the Native Americans project and in our G2G forum where she's been called "a blessing" to our community. [interview]

Mary (Brandt) Jensen
Mary is active in the Denmark and Categorization projects. "I evaluated several genealogy websites in searching for the right one," says Mary. "I was particularly interested in finding one that encouraged proper sourcing and that truly encouraged collaborative genealogy. WikiTree is it." [interview]

Barbara Shoff
Adoption Angel and WikiTree Ambassador Barbara works on Brady DNA connections in a Facebook group and gives presentations on WikiTree at local libraries. [interview]

Greg Slade
Greg was inspired by AJ Jacobs, author of the newly-released book "It's All Relative," to join WikiTree and help connect our global family. Greg's a two-time winner of the Connectors Challenge. [interview]

Leanne Cooper
Leanne is the creator of this video introduction to WikiTree. "I love that WikiTree is such good cousin bait," she writes. "I have had many people contact me about the profiles that I manage, often to provide me with additional information. I’ve connected with many distant cousins through WikiTree." [interview]

Jean (Thornton) Roberts
Jeanie is active in the Puritan Great Migration and Native American projects. She admires her Puritan ancestors for "their bravery in crossing a very large ocean in a very small boat for a destination for which they knew very little, to create a new life for themselves and their children." [interview]

Greg Lavoie
Greg is active in the French Roots Project where he's currently focused on the Presidents of France, French Notables, and Ancestry of Catherine de Baillon sub-projects. [interview]

Roland Arsenault
Roland co-leads the Acadians Project. He loves the "never ending series of puzzles" in genealogy, and how WikiTree's open web-based model means that our ancestor's puzzle pieces can connect with world history. [interview]

Natalie Trott
Among her many activities, Natalie helps categorize profiles by the cemetery in which the person is buried and answers questions about categories in G2G. [interview]

Helmut Jungschaffer
Helmut appreciates the "emphasis on documentation" at WikiTree and often helps with German sources that are inaccessible to others. He also leads multiple surname projects and the Czech Roots Project. [interview]

Karen Tobo
Karen has been a member since 2011 and has made 100,000+ contributions. She's an active Connector who helps make the world a smaller place by growing out family connections for strangers until they meet on our global tree. "Making new connections is my favorite thing to do on WikiTree! I enjoy seeing how we all relate." [interview]

Isabelle Rassinot
Isabelle is active in Saturday Sourcing Sprints and Data Doctor Challenges and is helping start up a French Roots project. Do you have ancestors from France? Join Isabelle! [interview]

Susie MacLeod
Susie is one of our friendly Greeters. She bridges the Atlantic as a member of the UK and US history projects. "The spirit of collaboration and desire for accuracy are what drew me to WikiTree," Susie writes. "The selfless way in which people give of their time and energy to help others just warms my heart." [interview]

Robynne Lozier
Robynne is currently active in the British Home Children Project and as leader of the Kiwi Crew in the upcoming Source-a-Thon. "I find myself on WikiTree pretty much every day," she says. "I am so addicted — to the community as well as the genealogy." [interview]

Dorothy Barry
US Army veteran Dorothy is active in our Military & War Project, as a Greeter, and in many other corners of our community. She's leading the Southern Super Sweepers in this year's Source-a-Thon. (In the Clean-a-Thon they took fifth place and Dorothy as an individual took fourth.) [interview]

Keith Hathaway
Vermont karate instructor Keith is a moderator in G2G and one of the friendliest WikiTreers you'll meet there. He's also our community's superfan. Witness his WikiTree poem and the new WikiTree t-shirts he's embroidering himself. [interview]

Rubén Hernández
Rubén participates in our Mexico Project and can be found in our G2G forum almost every day generously answering questions to help other genealogists learn to use WikiTree. "I can't stop WikiTreeing," he admits in his blog interview. [interview]

Alison Andrus
Alison currently leads the US History Project, an umbrella for many smaller projects. In her blog interview, Alison writes "I have met the most wonderful, caring and kind people on WikiTree you will ever want to meet. They are so generous with their time and talents, I have learned so much and feel so humbled." [interview]

Ellen Smith
Ellen is an outstanding, generous genealogist in G2G and everywhere else she participates. "It's been wonderful to experience how collaborative genealogy in WikiTree makes all of us better genealogists," she says. "Collaboration on our shared ancestors encourages us to share information and to hold each other to high standards." [interview]

Kay Wilson
Wonderful WikiTreer Kay is especially generous in answering DNA questions on complex issues such as using DNA to scientifically confirm family trees. "I love the collaboration with distant cousins who are working on the same ancestors," she says. "I love the wonderful DNA tools available to us on WikiTree." [interview]

Laura (Pennie) Bozzay
Laura is very active on WikiTree, including in the German Roots Project. She recently made contact with a cousin in Germany thanks to WikiTree's DNA partnership with GEDMatch. [interview]

Ros Haywood
Ros is involved in a dozen projects, including six surname projects. "I have been on WikiTree since 2011 and am very active (I'm on it several times a day for several hours at a time). There's always something new to do!" [interview]

Jacqueline Girouard
Jackie has been an active WikiTreer since 2014. She's a leader in the Acadians Project and Louisiana Families Project. One thing she loves about WikiTree is that she always has "something constructive to do with her time every single day." [interview]

Campbell Braddock
Campbell is still a teenager but has made over 12,000 WikiTree contributions including work on an extensive Braddock surname study. "If I'm not sleeping, eating, working or painting a picture, I am on WikiTree." [interview]

Mel (Gilbert) Lambert
Mel is very involved with the Military and War Project and is one of our amazingly generous and patient Mentors. Mentors are volunteers who give one-on-one help to other members who are having trouble with WikiTree's many complexities. "I love the collaboration, shared knowledge and the friendliness of our WikiTree members." [interview]

Debi (McGee) Hoag
Debi is an active Greeter, Ranger, and Sourcerer. She co-leads the Quakers, Profile Improvement, and Greeters Projects "I love that there's a way for us to work together to record all our findings, both accurate and inaccurate, so that the most complete depiction of a person can be developed." [interview]

Summer (Binkley) Orman
Summer is heavily involved in the Volunteer Coordinators and the Tennessee and Slavic Roots projects, and has now taken leadership of the Rangers, the vitally-important members who help us all by watching for "forest fires." [interview]

Lucy (Kelleher) Lavelle
Lucy is the Source-a-Thon and Clean-a-Thon #1 top scorer. In her blog interview she writes, "I love how friendly and helpful the WikiTree community is — almost every conversation I have with WikiTreers feels like a warm hug!" [interview]

Cindy (Williams) Lesure
Cindy is a friendly Greeter and a cheerful Data Doctor. On New Years Eve 2014 she started entering information on WikiTree. Now, she says, "I must go to the website at least once a day! I volunteer as a Greeter and Messenger and am a Data Doctor. It is something I absolutely love!" [interview]

Liz (Noland) Shifflett
Liz has been a leading member for five years. She makes innumerable contributions including leading the Louisiana Project, Virginia Project, MatchBot Monitors, and Saturday Sourcing Sprints. "I was totally addicted the moment I found WikiTree in May 2012, which was a month after my mom died, so it was a balm to immerse myself in my family tree." [interview]

Charlotte Shockey
Charlotte was a top winner in both the Source-a-Thon and Clean-a-Thon. "I enjoy being a Greeter, the first person a new member interacts with. I always hope to give them a positive experience. I also love helping out with all the other projects I'm part of. Sometimes I don’t know if I have enough time in the day to do it all. LOL. Darn work for getting in the way." [interview]

Bea Wijma
Bea is one of our leading Dutch members. She's been instrumental in the Dutch Roots, New Netherland Settlers, South African Roots and Cape of Good Hope projects. Bea confesses, "I'm a WikiTree addict. 'Wicked Tree' is how my family members sometimes (joking) name it." [interview]

Emma MacBeath
Emma, the second-place finisher in the 2017 Clean-a-Thon and leader of the winning team, "A Rose by Any Other Name." Emma is a Greeter, an Adoption Angel, and a project coordinator for the DNA Project. [interview]

Carole Partridge
Carole co-leads the Greeters who help make WikiTree "the most polite and friendly website on the Internet." See Carole in this YouTube LiveCast. "I dream of one giant tree that will eventually incorporate the latest research on every ancestor we know of," says Carole. [interview]

Bob Keniston
Bob is a Ranger and Data Doctor, and has been active in the Sourcerers, Bio Builders, and Connectors Challenges. See Bob in this YouTube LiveCast. "I enjoy the collaboration and assistance that you get when you join WikiTree." [interview]

David Selman
David is a Texas Cemeterist and Volunteer Coordinator. He's one of our most helpful members and loves recognizing others' accomplishments in our G2G forum. "I especially like the friends I have made here [and] being able to ask for help with anything and always getting an answer." [interview]

Robin Lee
Robin co-leads the Arborists and US Presidents projects and our Pre-1500 Certification process. See Robin in this LiveCast on YouTube. "What I love most about WikiTree is that it is a community, where we share what we know willingly and we gain when others gain. I have done a lot of volunteer work in my life and by far, this is the best environment that I have worked in as a volunteer." [interview]

Dorothy (Cook) Coakley
Dorothy is an Arborist, Mentor, and Connector. She says everyone should presume that they are a cousin. Which, of course, they are, they just haven’t met yet! [interview]

Kitty (Cooper) Smith
Kitty is the co-leader of our DNA Project and 1776 Project, and leads a Smith One-Name Study. She's been active in the new Saturday Sourcing Sprints. See Kitty in this YouTube LiveCast on DNA usage. [interview]

Michael Stills
Michael is a G2G forum moderator and 1776 Project co-leader. He's a great Ambassador for WikiTree, often giving presentations in his local community. Michael leads the way in our Presenters group, helping other WikiTreers share the love. [interview]