Cristina was born in Mexico City in 1966 and grew up in nearby Cuernavaca, in the sunny state of Morelos. 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 SeaLegacy, a non-profit dedicated to protecting the ocean, with her partner, Canadian photographer Paul Nicklen.

Her work makes a real distinction between simply photographing nature and what it means to use images to protect nature. As an environmental activist, she pioneered the concept and field of conservation photography.