Bernie May (born 1947) is a geneticist, known for his work applying genetic tools to address questions in natural resource management and conservation, with a particular focus on aquatic species.

May has published over 200 papers[2] in 65 journals on divergent taxa, including fish, crustaceans, insects, plants, fungi, and mammals, bringing simple Mendelian genetic data to answer a diverse array of biological and ecological questions.

He then moved to the University of California, Davis in 1995, where he initiated the Genomic Variation Laboratory,[5] serving as its director and an adjunct professor in the Department of Animal Science.

As a graduate student and early career investigator, Dr. May pioneered the application of allozyme electrophoresis to measure genetic variability in aquatic organisms.

He contributed key papers that played an integral role in forming our current understanding of the structure and evolution of salmonid genomes.