Working as Environment and Science correspondent, principally for the Six and Ten O'Clock News bulletins on BBC ONE, David Shukman has reported from more than 70 countries and regions including both the Arctic and the Antarctic.Recent assignments include revealing the plight of the polar bears in the far north of Canada, enduring subzero conditions at a NASA ice-station in Greenland and reporting on the spread of the Kalahari desert in southern Africa.His brief covers climate change, space exploration, environmental disasters, avian flu and future technologies.During a BBC career that began in 1983, he was based in Northern Ireland from 1985 to 1987 before being appointed Defence Correspondent (1987-95), then being assigned to Brussels as Europe Correspondent (1995-99). He was World Affairs Correspondent from 1999 to 2003, prior to taking up his current position.Previous assignments have included reporting on the fall of the Berlin Wall from the eastern side and being the first Western reporter to gain access to a Soviet nuclear base. He has covered conflicts including Bosnia, Angola and East Timor.More recently, in his current role, he spent four days on a Norwegian whaling ship to provide a firsthand account of the highly controversial practice of hunting whales. He also got rather too close to the elephants of the Kruger National Park in South Africa in his coverage of the plans for a cull.David is the author of two books and numerous articles, including one for the Observer Food Monthly on the cooking skills of front-line news teams.He is 47 and married with three children.