Berni's achievements in organic and environmental biogeochemistry were indeed many and broad in scope. He was among the pioneers in unraveling the complex information that is archived in the organic matter in the soils, sediments, and rocks on the planet. He provided important interpretative tools for understanding the processes of the evolution of life on Earth and its legacy messages. Thus, he was one of the developers of the biomarker concept and perhaps one who identified more of these compounds for the scientific community. In addition to studies on the Earth, when he was at the University of California at Berkeley, he was one of the small group scientists selected by NASA to investigate the composition of the Apollo 11 lunar samples for evidence of extra-terrestrial life.