Cristina was born and raised in Mozambique. She loves her family, her friends, the people, the beautiful scenery, and the rich biodiversity that her country has to offer, especially the coast and the sea. This interest in the coast and sea led her to pursue her Honours in Biological Sciences at the Eduardo Mondlane University in Mozambique and her Masters of Applied Science in Natural Resources Management at James Cook University in Australia. These degrees, combined with almost 20 years of experience working in a national non-governmental organization, Centro Terra Viva, have contributed to her understanding of the great challenges Mozambique faces regarding the management of its natural resources, especially subsistence and artisanal fisheries resources and the protection and conservation of valuable species and ecosystems due to the lack of capacity and resources. Throughout these years, she came to realize that people, the different stakeholders that are part of a society (e.g. communities, government, research institutions, national and international organizations, and private sector), have to work together through sharing information, creating knowledge and capacity and having, above all, the will to contribute to change. She understands that this, although it makes all the sense on paper, is one great big challenge, but you cannot manage natural resources and conserve biodiversity without the will of the people.

Apart from that, she loves to spend time with her two daughters, drive long distances, go camping, and watch television, especially humor (e.g. Ricardo Araujo Pereira, Trevor Noah) and history. In March 2024, she was offered the opportunity to collaborate with Maliasili, and she hopes to give her best and contribute to the goals of the Southern Africa Portfolio team.

Cristina is based in Maputo, Mozambique.