In 2022 the National Center for Science Education (NCSE) presented Berra the "Friend of Darwin" award.

Born August 31, 1943, in St. Louis, Missouri,[1] Berra credits his mother helping him with his career in science, by allowing him to read at the dinner table despite his father thinking it wasn't a good idea.

[4] Berra has been called "an international expert in freshwater fish, with a reputation for solving long-standing mysteries".

[5] In 1988, Berra contributed to the preservation of a megamouth shark, a species witnessed rarely before that, described as "one of the most important zoological finds of the decade".

[5] Berra's 1996 research on Galaxias maculatus proved that its freshwater distribution around the Southern Hemisphere was due to dispersal through the sea of salt-tolerant juveniles.

Their consanguine marriage possibly affected the children with "reduced fertility" compared with similar families of their class during that time.

[10] Darwin himself suffered from ill-health, "severe digestive problems and a skin disease that made shaving so painful that he grew his distinctive beard".

[11] In 2016 The Washington Post contacted Berra to weigh in on the importance of finding a letter from Darwin that had been stolen 30-years prior by an intern at the Smithsonian.

[14] His research on the nurseryfish was to investigate the male's unique adaptation, carrying thousands of fertilized eggs on a hook "like a bunch of grapes".

Berra hopes that the chair will be filled by a scientist that will do field work and return to teach at the Mansfield campus, also Berra made the bequest to honor his wife Rita, of whom he said "She has made my life easier for all these years and has provided unselfish support, freeing me to pursue my research".

Berra states that his "scientific training and methods helped him find and organize information".