Christy is originally from landlocked Johannesburg in South Africa, however, she moved to Jeddah in 2008. Growing up on the coast of the Red Sea is how Christy discovered her love for the marine realm. After doing her first dive in the Maldives at age 7, Christy realized that she would never get enough of being underwater. She has spent the last 10 years split between the UK and Saudi Arabia, where her passion has continued to grow.

Christy obtained her BSc in Marine Biology (Hons) from the University of Exeter in 2020, where her independent undergraduate research focussed on the effects of organic pollutants on the sensory ecology of invertebrates in the Cornish coast's intertidal zone. This research aimed to support the claim that products, such as sun cream, are irreparably damaging that fragile ecosystem.  

Immediately after her BSc, Christy began her MSc in Marine Vertebrate Ecology and Conservation at the University of Exeter. She graduated in 2021 after completing her thesis on the scarring patterns of whale sharks in the Red Sea. This research was undertaken in collaboration with the Reef Ecology Lab at KAUST.

Christy started striving towards KAUST in high school after joining a tourist trip to see whale sharks at Shib Habil in Al-Lith with some researchers from KAUST. This solidified her drive towards marine science, with a specific aim to study the whale shark aggregation in the southern Red Sea. Now, Christy's PhD is broadly focussing on the ecology of whale sharks in the Red Sea and further afield. She aims to inform conservation decisions in the region to protect this endangered species.