Pilgrim Academic Research Award

The Pilgrim Academic Research Award is presented at the Governor General’s 1620 Club Banquet each September.

The General Society of Mayflower Descendants and the Pilgrim Academic Research Committee is pleased to announce the tenth annual Pilgrim Academic Research Award recipient, Blaine Bettinger. 

Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D., is a professional genealogist specializing in DNA evidence. In 2007 he started The Genetic Genealogist, one of the earliest blogs on the topic.

Blaine is the author of The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy, and co-author with Debbie Parker Wayne of the award-winning Genetic Genealogy in Practice, the world’s first genetic genealogy workbook. He also co-authored “Genetics for Genealogy” with Judy Russell in 2018’s Professional Genealogy: Preparation, Practice & Standards (ProGen PPS) (Elizabeth Shown Mills, Author and Editor).

Blaine is or has been an instructor for genetic genealogy courses at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), and Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research.

Blaine is a graduate of ProGen Study Group 21, a trustee for the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society, and a member of the DNAngels Board of Directors since 2022 (President since January 2023), and a member of the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods (SWGDAM) “Investigative Genetic Genealogy Working Group” since 2019.

He is also the founder in 2017 of Genetic Genealogy Tips & Techniques, a very active Facebook group with more than 75,000 members.