Erik joined the Local 6 News Team in 2003 days after the tragic loss of Space Shuttle Columbia upon re-entry into the atmosphere. Since then, he has covered almost every single shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center. He's weathered the brush fires, hurricanes and tornadoes of Central Florida. And Erik has covered countless national stories, including President George W. Bush's visit to Sarasota for what was supposed to be a routine trip on Sept. 11, 2001.

Erik is always looking for a good story, and often news finds him. In October 2006, Erik was celebrating his engagement to his wife in Hawaii when a 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Big Island, centered only a few miles from Kona where they were vacationing. Amid the chaos, Erik went to work - reporting from his hotel.

Erik grew up in Scarsdale, New York, and graduated from the State University of New York's Binghamton University. He holds a degree in Economics and a minor in Spanish.

He got his start in journalism with an internship at CBS affiliate WBNG-TV in his college town. At WMBC-TV in New Jersey, Erik covered the metro New York City area. There he learned to shoot, edit, report, produce, anchor -- you name it. Erik also reported and anchored at ABC affiliate WWSB-TV in Sarasota.

Erik's reporting has earned him more than a dozen prestigious awards, recognizing him as one of the best journalists in the southeastern United States. He was honored with an Emmy and several nominations, as well as numerous awards from the Associated Press and the Society of Professional Journalists.

When he's not covering the big stories of Central Florida, you'll find Erik spending time with his family or out on the water. He grew up competing in and teaching slalom skiing, wakeboarding, barefoot skiing, and show skiing. He currently trains as an amateur slalom skier. Erik is also a snow skier, golfer, keyboard and guitar player and father. He has a brown-belt in Okinawan GoJu-Ryu Karate, speaks Finnish and volunteers in his free time.

Erik has traveled the world, trekking through the Incan ruins of Macchu Picchu in Peru, the temples of Thailand, the castles of Europe, the outback of Australia and the Great Wall of China.

You can catch Erik breaking news at 11 p.m. as a reporter during the week and anchoring on Saturdays.

Drop Erik a line at: evonancken@wkmg.com.