Gillian Burke | |
---|---|
Born | 1974or1975(age 49–50) |
Nationality | Kenyan/British |
Alma mater | University of Bristol |
Occupation(s) | producer, TV presenter |
Years active | 2000–present |
Children | 2 |
Gillian Burke (born 1974or1975 [1] ) is a natural history television programme presenter, producer and voiceover artist. [2] She is best known for co-presenting BBC nature series Springwatch and its spin-offs since 2017.
Burke studied biology at Bristol University, and subsequently worked as a researcher for the BBC's Natural History Unit. [1] She worked as a producer and director on several series for Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel, and as a voiceover artist, [3] before becoming a regular presenter on Springwatch in 2017. [1] As part of her role, Burke has also presented its seasonal spin-offs Autumnwatch and Winterwatch.
In 2019, she hosted Nature's Strangest Mysteries: Solved (Animal Planet), and in 2020 narrated Thailand's Wild Side (National Geographic Channel). [4] [5] In 2020, Burke became vice president of the Wildlife Trusts. [6] In 2022, Burke took a break from presenting The Watches programmes due to schedules clashing between roles.
Burke's grandmothers are from the Seychelles, and her grandfathers are from Sri Lanka. She was born and grew up just outside of Nairobi, Kenya, where her father was a mechanic. At the age of ten the family relocated to Vienna, where she learnt to speak German. [7] [8] [6] Her ancestry is Afro-Trinidadian, Seminole, Mauritian and Somalian; her mother was a journalist and worked with the United Nations. [9] As a teenager, she developed an interest in wildlife through photography. She now lives in Cornwall with her two children. [1] She has been an ambassador of the rainforest protection charity Cool Earth. [10]
Castle Espie is a wetland reserve managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) on the banks of Strangford Lough, three miles south of Comber, County Down, Northern Ireland, in the townland of the same name. It is part of the Strangford Lough Ramsar Site. It provides an early wintering site for almost the entire Nearctic population of pale-bellied brent geese. The Castle which gave the reserve its name no longer exists.
The BBC Studios Natural History Unit (NHU) is a department of BBC Studios that produces television, radio and online content with a natural history or wildlife theme. It is best known for its highly regarded nature documentaries, including The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, and has a long association with David Attenborough's authored documentaries, starting with 1979's Life on Earth.
Springwatch, Autumnwatch until 2022 and Winterwatch, sometimes known collectively as The Watches, are annual BBC television series which chart the fortunes of British wildlife during the changing of the seasons in the United Kingdom. The programmes are broadcast live from locations around the country in a primetime evening slot on BBC Two. They require a crew of 100 and over 50 cameras, making them the BBC's largest British outside broadcast events. Many of the cameras are hidden and operated remotely to record natural behaviour, for example, of birds in their nests and badgers outside their sett.
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