Cristina has been working in invertebrate ecology laboratories for over 7 years, starting in her second year of undergraduate studies at UC Santa Cruz. With the steadiest hand in the dissecting microscope world, she's focused mainly on monitoring invertebrate populations, from krill to dragonfly nymphs to her current focus on predator-prey mite interactions in walnut orchards with the Mills lab. She loves contributing to principal investigator's larger projects, and utilizing her efficiency and attention to detail to help run a smart lab. When she's not flying in mid-air practicing aerial acrobatics outside of the lab, she dreams of one day using cutting edge technology to dive deep and broaden our understanding of the deep ocean and the organisms that call it home.