Instructor Bios

The practical industry experience and proven training ability of our trainers are the biggest key advantages of nSight's training programs. Regardless of your level or background, our instructors will help you gain maximum value from your workshop experience. Each instructor ensures that you have a unique, comfortable learning environment in which you can find solutions.

Gene Babon
(JavaScript, SQL)

Gene earned a BS in mathematics from Penn State University and an MS in physical education from Purdue University. He also holds a Client/Server Programming and Web Development Certificate from Clark University's Computer Career Institute. His most recent assignment involved providing technical support and training for Window Book, a Cambridge-based software developer. Gene also developed the curriculum for the Web Design and Web Programming Certificate programs at Bunker Hill Community College. He is the author of The Race to Boston: Achieving Excellence in Long Distance Running.

Elinor Celuzza
(Business Writing: Grammar and Usage, Copyediting for BioTech/Medical Documentation, Copyediting International Documentation, Copyediting Fundamentals, Polishing Your Writing Through Self-Editing, Proofreading Essentials, Writing for Public Relations)

Elinor has a BA from UMass/Amherst and a Master's degree from Harvard. She has been working as an editor, copyeditor, and proofreader for over 16 years. She also teaches writing, literature, and public speaking at RISD and Johnson and Wales.

Elizabeth Cohen
(Instructional Design for Blended Learning: A Practical Approach)

Elizabeth is a freelance instructional designer, writer, and producer with over 15 years experience creating interactive multimedia projects. With roots in film, video, and education, she has created award-winning training, using video, CD, DVD, and e-learning formats. Her client list includes Philips Medical Systems, Fidelity Investments, Tufts Managed Care, Ann Taylor, WGBH, the Massachusetts Department of Education, and various nonprofit organizations. Elizabeth earned her BA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a Masters Degree in Film Production from Boston University. She has taught adults for many years, including workshops and classes for Women in Film and Video, Boston Film/Video Foundation, Regis College and Boston University.

Nancy DuVergne Smith
(Writing and Editing for the Web)

Nancy earned an ALM in English and literature from Harvard and a BFA from Tulane. She has 20 years of journalism and marketing experience and has taught writing at Wellesley College and the Radcliffe Seminar. Currently, she creates Web and print communications at MIT and serves as a Web content consultant. Nancy has won awards for pioneering content concepts such as OpenDoor, an MIT Web feature that took an innovation indexing approach to complex content. She led the content team for the redesign of the 1,500-page MIT Alumni Association Web site, developed their Web Content Style Guide, and trained content authors to apply principles to practice.

Kerin Forsyth
(Online Editing with MS Word and Adobe Acrobat, Copyediting Fundamentals, Proofreading Essentials)

Kerin Forsyth is a practicing copy editor with five years of experience in online editing and years before that copyediting on paper. Equipped with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and certification in graphic design and illustration from the Hussian School of Art, she began her career in publishing by writing, editing, and producing award-winning newsletters for the Kiwanis Club and working on other kinds of publications for the public schools in her area. Later, she trained as a copy editor with the ubiquitous red pencil and reams of paper for publishers such as the State University of New York (SUNY) and Praeger. Kerin works mostly out of her home office, providing freelance editing and proofreading services through both online editing and—occasionally—that perennial red pencil.

Leslie Goldberg
(Grammar and Usage, Polishing Your Writing Through Self-Editing, Copyediting, Copyediting Technical Documents)

Leslie earned her MA in Mass Communication from Boston University. She brings more than 15 years of writing and editing experience to her workshops. As a corporate communications consultant and principal of Blue Sun Communications, Leslie writes and manages newsletters, brochures, public relations campaigns, marketing materials, and Web-based projects. She teaches writing at Boston University's College of Communication and at Tufts University.

Gina Hagen
(Design for Non-Designers)

Gina Hagen is an award-winning Designer with more than 15 years of experience in Book Publishing. After receiving her Bachelor of Arts with concentrations in illustration and graphic design, Gina began her career in publishing at Little, Brown and Company, designing children's trade books. At Addison-Wesley Higher Education/Pearson Education she designed textbooks and covers in disciplines such as Economics, Finance, Accounting, Computer Science, and a host of Buisness topics. Since 2005 Gina has been providing freelance design services while also expanding her own business Hagen Gallery, where she is a jewelry designer and watercolor artist.

Karl Hill
(Structured FrameMaker, XML–An Introduction, DTD Design, FrameMaker 7.2 Basic, FrameMaker 7.2 Advanced)

Karl Hill, a native Ohioan, is Executive Director and Founder of New England-based KLH Publishing, which provides corporations with on-site software training and consulting services. Karl's career as an Adobe Certified Training Provider, CompTIA CTT+, and an independent Adobe software consultant spans more than ten years. He is a contributing author and developer for Adobe After Effects, Premiere, Illustrator, and GoLive ACE exams. His certifications include the entire Adobe Publishing, Web, and Video Suites of software including Adobe Structured FrameMaker. He recently authored an online training video on Illustrator CS3 (http://www.trainsimple.com). Karl also spends his time as a professional musician. He has been featured on recordings and live radio and TV performances with drum legend Ginger Baker.

Joel Howe
(Flash CS3 Basic, Flash CS3 Intermediate, Flash CS3 Advanced, Dreamweaver CS3 Advanced, Adobe After Effects CS3)

Joel Howe is an engineer turned web designer, developer, and animator. As a principal at Framework Media, Joel has been developing interactive and animated content for the past 12 years. He is hopelessly devoted to using tools like Flash, Dreamweaver, After Effects, and 3ds max and uses them every day in production. Joel holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and a master's degree from Tufts University. He also teaches animation and Flash courses at New England Institute of Art.

Peter Keville
(Advanced Editing for Technical Documentation, Copyediting Technical Documentation, Copyediting)

Peter served as director of documentation at Gensym Corporation for nine years, and he has held senior writing, editing, and management positions at nSight, Digital Equipment Corp., Sun Microsystems, Lotus, and BBN (now Genuity). Peter earned a doctorate from Brandeis University, a master's degree with highest thesis honors from Columbia University, and a bachelor's degree from Cornell University. He has taught at Brandeis University, Boston University, and the University of New Hampshire.

Deb Liljegren
(Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Macromedia Dreamweaver, QuarkXPress, Macromedia Flash, Branding)

Deb Liljegren is an award-winning designer with more than 10 years of experience in branding and design. Upon receiving her BA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and her foreign degrees from the Université de Rouen, she began working in marketing and design within the architecture and urban-design industry. Within three years, she became the head of Veraqua Design and Marketing in Boston. Creating brands, package designs, and advertising programs for companies in the U.S., Europe, and Japan, she worked closely with clients such as Avery Dennison, Millipore, and Alex Gambal Vineyards. Developing and teaching design and production teams for the past five years, she has left her mark in companies such as Grand Circle Travel, Upstate Biotechnology, and Clearway Technologies.

Seth Maislin
(Information Architecture and Web Navigation, Indexing Technical Documentation)

Seth is managing partner of Potomac Indexing, sole proprietor of Focus Information Services, and a taxonomy consultant for Earley & Associates. He is also an instructor for Bentley College, Simmons College, and Middlesex Community College. He provides indexing, taxonomy, information architecture, and other information storage and retrieval consulting services, and is an active indexer. Notable clients include Microsoft, Mercedes Benz USA, Fidelity Investments, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Motorola, Pitney Bowes, and the United Nations Dag Hammarskjold Library. Seth is a past president of the American Society of Indexers.

Kate Wrightson Merlino
(Copyediting for Technical Documentation; HTML 4.0 Basic; HTML 4.0 Advanced; Indexing Technical Documentation; Technical Writing: Structure, Content and Organization)

Kate Wrightson Merlino is a senior technical editor at nSight. She has also co-authored and edited more than a dozen technical trade books on Linux and related Free/Open Source software. Kate holds a PhD in the history of higher education from the University of Georgia, an MA in English from the University of Oregon, and a BA in English from the University of Chicago.

Deborah Sauer
(Adobe FrameMaker, RoboHelp HTML, Editing for Technical Writers, Technical Writing, Indexing Technical Documents, Polishing Your Writing Through Self-Editing, Substantive & Developmental Editing, Creating a Corporate Style Guide)

Deborah is an independent consultant with more than 20 years' experience in technical communication. She received a master's degree in technical and professional writing from Northeastern University, where she also taught in the graduate certificate program for many years. She provides clients with services such as user interface design, end-user content development, Flash demo development, Windows, HTML, and Web-based Help development, single-source design for print and online delivery, and customized template creation. She teaches writing and editing courses for novice and experienced writers. She is an expert in tools such as FrameMaker, Acrobat, RoboHelp, Flare, and MS Word. She is a fellow of the Society for Technical Communication and, as assistant to the president for education, was responsible for the STC Annual Conference and STC's training programs.

Natasha Schneider
(Madcap Flare)

Natasha has designed and led trainings since 1994. Working in the technical communications field for two decades, she has had the opportunity to wear many hats - ranging from proposal writing to user interface design and HTML coding. Outside of the technical arena, she has run creative writing groups for adults, has been a guest poetry teacher in high school classes, and reads her poetry at venues in the Boston area.

Patti Scully-Lane
(Adobe PhotoShop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Macromedia Dreamweaver, QuarkXPress)

Patti has a BFA in photography from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Connecticut. She has worked as a graphic designer in both print and web for the past thirteen years. She has designed books, brochures, book covers, newspaper special section covers, sales and marketing pieces, and Web sites. Patti has ten years of experience teaching basic to advanced levels of various graphic software programs. She has taught at the college level, conducted business workshops, developed courseware for various software programs, and worked closely with training managers to create courses for individualized classes. In the past few years she has consulted with many companies and trained employees during Quark to InDesign conversions, many of which also implemented an InDesign/InCopy workflow. As a member of the Adobe Creative Team she did page layout and technical editing for a number of titles in the Adobe Classroom in a Book series.

Joel Sklar

Joel is a course developer and technical trainer specializing in HTML, XML, and web technologies. He has taught markup languages and web design to thousands of technical professionals in the New England area. Joel runs his own consulting business, offering a range of technical and design classes as well as customized courseware development. In addition, Joel is the author of Principles of Web Design and Designing Web Pages with Cascading Style Sheets, both published by Course Technology. Known for his lively hands-on demonstrations, Joel has presented at technical communication conferences throughout the United States.