She is a nationally recognized genealogy educator and speaker specializing in methodology; Mexican, Mexican-American, and Hispanic research; 20th century immigration research; libraries and archives; and technology. Colleen has coordinated courses for the Texas Institute of Genealogical Research (TIGR) and has taught in courses for the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), SLIG Academy for Professionals, and the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR). She also coordinates the Mexico Research Series for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

Colleen is the Digital Scholarship Librarian at California State University, Fullerton, where her primary work involves helping students and other faculty integrate more digital tools and strategies into their curriculum, research, and scholarship. She frequently guest teaches about genealogy methods and sources in academic courses and programs.

Colleen has also taught an online, graduate-level, genealogy research methods and librarianship course for the School of Information at San Jose State University since 2016. Her students are future librarians and archivists who gain a solid introduction to the Genealogical Proof Standard while also learning how to deliver high quality genealogy video instruction and research assistance.