Cristina Cid is currently Researcher at the Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC). She earned her Bachelors in Biological Sciences and Pharmacy, and her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Complutense University of Madrid, where she got the Extraordinary Doctorate Award. In her research, she pioneered the biodiversity, ecology, evolution, and molecular mechanisms of adaptation of extremophilic microorganisms. She has participated in numerous field campaigns in mountainous, volcanic, and polar areas. She is a member of the European Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the Spanish Society of Microbiology, and the Spanish Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.