Steve attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he earned a Masters Degree in 1976 in Human Factors Engineering. His master's thesis was one of the first to deal with the use of underwater video systems in commercial diving. His work was used by the U.S. Navy in developing applications for underwater video systems.

In 1978, Barsky joined the staff of the Florida PADI College in Jacksonville, Florida. As Training Director, Barsky was responsible for open water training and screening applicants for admission. This program was the first private extended instructor training program in the world, after which all current programs of this type are modeled.

Barsky was marketing manager for Viking America, Inc., an international manufacturer of dry suits. He also served in a similar position at Diving Systems International (DSI), the world's leading manufacturer of commercial diving helmets. At DSI, Barsky worked very closely with Bev Morgan, a diving pioneer.

Steve is an accomplished underwater photographer. His photos have been used in numerous magazine articles, catalogs, advertising, training programs, and textbooks.

A prolific writer, Barsky's work has been published in Sea Technology, Skin Diver, Offshore Magazine, Emergency, Fire Engineering, Dive Training Magazine, Searchlines, Sources, Undersea Biomedical Reports, Santa Barbara Magazine, Underwater Magazine, and many other publications. He is the author or co-author of sixteen books. Steve has taught numerous workshops on contaminated water diving, dry suits, small boat diving, spearfishing, underwater video, and other diving topics.

In 1989 Steve formed Marine Marketing and Consulting, based in Santa Barbara, California. The company provides market research, marketing plans, consulting, newsletters, promotional articles, technical manuals, and other services for the diving and ocean industry. He has consulted to Dräger, U.S. Divers Co., Inc, Zeagle Systems, Inc., Diving Unlimited Intnl., Diving Systems Intnl, DAN, NAUI, and numerous other companies. He also investigates diving accidents and serves as an expert witness in dive accident litigation.

In 1999 Steve and Kristine formed Hammerhead Press to publish a wide variety of unique diving books. In 2001 Steve and Kristine formed Hammerhead Video to produce high quality undewater videos for the sport and commercial diving markets.

Steve is an instructor with NAUI and PADI, as well as a TDI and SDI instructor.