Celina Chien

Storyteller, Photographer, Presenter

Celina Chien is an intersectional wildlife conservationist and artist, combining her roles as an ecologist, presenter and award-winning photographer to harness empathy for change and advocate for biodiversity. Her work strives to expose environmental crises, inspire wonder for nature and ultimately galvanise people to action. Celina’s photojournalism has taken her across the globe’s tropical regions, following stories that embrace nuance and focus on dissolving the imagined borders between humans and nature. Her work is intersectional; recognising that the varied challenges society faces today, from the environmental to the social, intersect with one another and sustained solutions are achieved by addressing their connections rather than their differences. She also concentrates on spotlighting the ecological and biodiversity crises in a world dominated by climate discussions.

Celina graduated from Imperial College London with a BSc in Biological Sciences in 2020 and an MRes in Tropical Forest Ecology in 2021 specialising in acoustic ecology. Just after completing her master’s, she was awarded as a highly commended finalist in the prestigious 57th Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition. Celina is a TEDx speaker, the youngest member of Panthera’s Conservation Council and a Youth Council member of the Reserva Youth Land Trust, an NGO that successfully created the world’s first entirely youth funded nature reserve in the Ecuadorian Choco forest. She is an advisory board member and inaugural ambassador for Girls Who Click, a nonprofit empowering girls in nature photography, and has been recognised by Diversify Photo in their ‘Up Next Photographers’ watch list. Celina has also had experience contributing to the Everyday Extinction collaborative, the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, the Rainforest Action Network, PETA’s Captive Animal Law Enforcement team and more…

It was in her pursuit of a career in research-led wildlife conservation that Celina discovered the power of photography and her love of storytelling. Alongside her work she has been an avid science communicator, speaker and is now entering the world of presenting and broadcasting. Previous speaking engagements include appearing as a podcast guest; teaching a masterclass for Falmouth University’s Marine and Natural History Photography degree; participating on panel discussions on the topic of conservation as well as social justice such as the Bio-Diverse festival or IUCN Global Youth Summit.

Celina cares deeply about the integration of protecting the environment, standing up for racial justice and the empowerment of women and girls, and is dedicated to the necessary alliance of these movements to help safeguard a better future for the natural world. Representation in imagery, on screen or among one’s peers in an industry shape how we all view the world and ourselves within it. Celina approaches her work with great consideration of this and a passion for enriching environmental storytelling through rewriting narratives, demanding nuance and provoking action to protect biodiversity.