Bernier is the author of six books, Wetlands (2025), Bakary and the River (2025), Ocean Suite (2024), The Silent Art (2011), Earth Suite (2010), and Dark Berries (2010). He founded the Poesis Reading Series in Arlington (and hosted it from 2003 to 2008), and served as a reader for the Washington Prize at the Word Works, and a judge for the Poetry Out Loud Competition, sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts. Bernier worked for over thirty years at the Association for Advancement of Medical Instrumentation. In addition to writing poetry, Bernier was a musician, often combining his two passions in performances where he alternated between playing harmonica and reading his poems.