An archaeologist by training (B.A., Vassar College; M.A., University of New Mexico), Emily Garber is a professional genealogy researcher, writer and speaker specializing in Jewish family history.  She has researched both Eastern European and German Jewish communities and immigrants to the USA and UK. She has explored family shtetlach (communities) and archives in Ukraine.

After retiring from her 30+ year career in natural resources management, Emily earned a certificate from Boston University’s Genealogical Research program. Since 2013, she has spoken at every International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies conference. She has also presented talks at National Genealogical Society conferences, the New York State Family History Conference, the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree, the Genealogy Society of Pennsylvania, and the Utah Genealogical Society’s Summit of Excellence. She has delivered talks and seminars in-person and virtually to groups throughout the USA, in England, Israel and Poland. She coordinated two week-long seminars on Jewish genealogy at the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh and the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy. Emily has authored four articles published in Avotaynu: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy and completed two privately published volumes chronicling the 300-year history of a German Jewish family. She writes a family history blog, The Extra Yad (https://extrayad.blogspot.com/).

Emily is a director on the boards of the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies and the Arizona Jewish Historical Society. She also chairs the Phoenix Jewish Genealogy Group. She served for about ten years as one of the moderators of the JewishGen Discussion Group.

July 2024 Course Coordinator – 2024-14  Introduction to Ashkenazic Jewish Genealogy