Cristina is a Special Advisor to the General Director of the Alexander von Humboldt Institute -the National Institute for Biodiversity in Colombia-, from where she builds strategic partnerships, connecting the Institute’s biodiversity knowledge and data with relevant stakeholders. Prior to that, she worked with the National Natural Parks Unit in Colombia as well as with NGOs such as the Global Canopy Programme and Panthera, coordinating the settlement of new protected areas according national conservation priorities, tracking market-driven land transformations affecting key biodiversity areas, managing data and content to trace the ‘forest behaviour’ of tropical countries, and advising meetings and forums aiming to bring together key representatives to discuss the challenges of sustainability. She holds a BA (Hons.) in Anthropology from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia, and a MSc in Conservation and Rural Development from the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, UK. She is currently a Project Fellow for the BiodiverCities by 2030 Initiative with the World Economic Forum.