About me.

Celina Chien is the founder & director of OVERSTORIES, a creative studio combining big-picture storytelling and strategy to generate on-the-ground change for Nature and her protectors. Celina combines her roles as an ecologist, award-winning photojournalist and conservationist to tell stories, harness empathy for change, and advocate for biodiversity in the Anthropocene. Her work is grounded in her background as a scientist and her kinship to nature, using creativity to extend the reaches of human empathy beyond our own species and stories. Celina is an outspoken advocate of environmental and social justice. She is also a professional actor and is equally passionate about narrative storytelling.

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 soundscape ecology. This year, Celina was appointed the youngest member of the Board of Directors of Panthera, after having sat on their Conservation Council since 2017. Celina is a TEDx speaker, panellist & moderator at the 2023 Paris Peace Forum, regular youth delegate at both climate & biodiversity COP conferences and more. She is also 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 Chocó forest; and an advisory board member and inaugural ambassador for Girls Who Click, a nonprofit empowering girls in nature photography. She also has had inter-disciplinary field experience working with the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme, the Rainforest Action Network, PETA’s Captive Animal Law Enforcement team and more…

Celina’s photography has been recognised as a highly commended finalist in the prestigious 57th Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition and in 2023 she sat on the judging panel of the 59th Wildlife Photographer of the Year leaving her mark on the guiding narrative of the year’s world-touring exhibition. She is listed by Diversify Photo in their ‘Up Next Photographers’ watch list and her work on captive primates included in a 2023 World Press Photo exhibition.

In parallel, Celina is an actor represented by Innovate Talent Management, next appearing in an Amazon series released in 2024.

Celina is local to London and Milan with origins in the Netherlands and China.