Gillian Burke (born ) is a

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

television programme presenter, producer and

voiceover Voice-over (also known as off-camera or off-stage commentary) is a production technique used in radio, television, filmmaking, theatre, and other media in which a descriptive or expository voice that is not part of the narrative (i.e., non- ...

artist. She is best known for co-

presenting In medicine, a presentation is the appearance in a patient of illness or disease—or signs or symptoms thereof—before a medical professional. In practice, one usually speaks of a patient as ''presenting'' with this or that. Examples include: ...

BBC nature series ''

Springwatch ''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 Kin ...

'' and its spin-offs since 2017.

Career

Burke studied biology at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Bristol, which had ...

, and subsequently worked as a researcher for the BBC's Natural History Unit. She worked as a producer and director on several series for

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...

and the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

, and as a

voiceover artist Voice acting is the art of performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animated, off-stage, off-scr ...

, before becoming a regular presenter on ''Springwatch'' in 2017. 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'' (

), and in 2020 narrated ''Thailand's Wild Side'' (

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney Enter ...

). In 2020, Burke became vice president of the Wildlife Trusts. In 2022, Burke took a break from presenting The Watches programmes due to schedules clashing between roles.

Personal life

Burke's grandmothers are from the

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

, and her grandfathers are from

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. She was born and grew up just outside of

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

, Kenya, where her father was a mechanic. At the age of ten the family relocated to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where she learnt to speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

. Her ancestry is Afro-Trinidadian,

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; ; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a melting pot of multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious peoples. Mauritian is made up ...

and Somalian; her mother was a journalist and worked with the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

. As a teenager, she developed an interest in wildlife through photography. She now lives in Cornwall with her two children. She has been an ambassador of the rainforest protection charity

Cool Earth Cool Earth is an international NGO that funds Indigenous communities to protect endangered rainforests in order to combat the climate crisis and protect ecosystems. The charity is associated with long term partnerships with Indigenous villages, ...

References

External links

* * Living people BBC television presenters Alumni of the University of Bristol BBC television producers Year of birth missing (living people) Black British television personalities 21st-century Black British women Mass media people from Nairobi {{BBC-tv-bio-stub