[13] Burko's early work consisted of drawings and paintings of iconic American landscapes such as the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell, as well as international sources such as the French Alps.

In 1977, while flying with Light and Space artist James Turrell in his Helio Courier over the Grand Canyon, Burko captured her first aerial photographs of the landscape.

Past subjects include the landscape of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, the coast of California, the fjords of Scandinavia, and the volcanoes of Hawaii, Italy and Iceland.

[18] From 2007 through 2011, Burko developed the project Politics of Snow, investigating the historical comparisons of global climate change through images culled from glacial geological data recorded throughout the world.

[16] Other works depict the same location seen from different points in time, showing the effects of climate change on a specific site – a method glaciologists call "repeats."

Such photo-documents have been shot by scientists and field researchers at U.S. Geological Survey and Byrd Polar Research Center at Ohio State University, such as David Arnold, Henry Brecher, Dan Fagre, Ulysses S. Grant IV, Karen Holzer, Carl Key, Bruce Molnia, Sidney Paige, Tad Pfeffer, Lonnie Thompson and Bradford Washburn.

[18] Judith E. Stein observes, "To my horror, I found myself adding my own mental image to each sequence, extrapolating from what [Burko] shows, thereby envisioning the next, un-depicted step in the warming process—our dystopic future.

The project aims to raise awareness of the rapid changes to coral reef systems, and present the scientific ramifications through art and performance.

[24] Independently, Burko's recent work includes video and lenticular pieces based on footage from this expedition, alongside paintings of reefs.

[41] In 1976, Ivan Karp offered Burko a "Dealer's Showcase" at OK Harris Gallery in New York, NY, which attracted the attention of critic David Bourdon, who reviewed her solo exhibition in The Village Voice.

[42] Critics and curators who have written about Burko's work include: Lawrence Alloway, Roberta Fallon, Pat Hogan,[43] Leslie Kaufman,[44] Cate McQuaid,[45] Preston McLane,[46] Edith Newhall,[47][48][49] John Perreault,[50] Carter Ratcliff,[18] Libby Rosof,[51] Julie Sasse,[52] Amy Schlegel,[53] Ed Sozanski,[54][55][56] and Michael Tomor.