Marc-André Bernier has a B.A. in Classical Archaeology and a Masters in Greek Archaeology with a dissertation on 5th century B.C. harbours. From 1990 to 2022, he worked with Parks Canada’s Underwater Archaeology Team and was the Manager of this team for 12 years. With Parks Canada, he has participated in more than 60 field projects in Canada including surveys, assessments, large-scale excavations, management as well as underwater cultural heritage (UCH) inventories in Canada’s National Parks and National Marine Conservation Areas. This includes work on the Elisabeth and Mary (1690), a 16th-century Basque whaler in Red Bay, a US military plane sunk in 1942, as well as HMS Investigator and Sir John Franklin’s ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror all three in the Canadian Arctic. Internationally, he has participated in UCH projects in France, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, Jamaica, Columbia and Senegal. With Parks Canada, he also acquired a diversified experience in policy, management plan and strategy development relating to UCH.

Marc-André Bernier also has a strong interest in outreach, training and capacity building in underwater archaeology and has a university degree in Education. He has been involved with the Nautical Archaeology Society program since 1994 and is now supporting the work of the Slave Wrecks Project which aims to build underwater archaeology capacity through the study of shipwrecks linked to the Slave Trade.

A former elected member of the Advisory Committee on Underwater Archaeology (ACUA) from 2007 to 2014, he has been involved with the ICUCH in various capacities since 1996.