Cristina Goettsch Mittermeier was born in Mexico City in 1966 and grew up in nearby Cuernavaca, in the sunny state of Morelos. She is a photographer and marine biologist who for the past 25 years has been working as a writer, conservationist and photographer. She graduated from the ITESM University in Mexico with a degree in Biochemical Engineering in Marine Sciences and later attended the Fine Art Photography program at the Corcoran College for the Arts in Washington, D.C. In 2005 she founded the prestigious International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP) to provide a platform for photographers working on environmental issues. In 2014 she co-founded Sea Legacy, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the ocean, with her partner, Canadian photographer Paul Nicklen
SeaLegacy is an organization dedicated to promoting the protection of the world’s oceans through storytelling. Cristina’s work has been published in hundreds of publications, including National Geographic Magazine, McLean’s and TIME.
In 2010 Mittermeier was awarded the Mission Award from the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA) and the Smithsonian Conservation Photographer of the Year Award. In 2016 she received the Imaging Award for Photographers who Give Back. She is a member of the World Photographic Academy. Cristina is a Sony Artisan of Imagery, is recognized as one of the World’s top 40 Most Influential Outdoor Photographers by Outdoor Magazine and was named one of National Geographic’s 2018 Adventurers of the Year.
Cristina has three adult children; John, Michael and Juliana, all of whom are passionate about nature.