Christine Figgener (born October 30, 1983) is a German marine conservation biologist, author, science communicator, and ocean advocate recognized for her work in sea turtle conservation, the fight against plastic pollution, and the empowerment of women in STEM. She is best known for documenting the removal of a plastic straw from a sea turtle's nose in a YouTube video that went viral in 2015. This video, which was featured in popular media outlets such as National Geographic, HuffPost, The New York Times, ABC News, and CNN, highlighted the dangers of plastic pollution on marine wildlife and was a catalyst for the global anti-straw movement that led to several straw bans by businesses such as Starbucks, Disney, and Alaska Airlines.
She was named a Next Generation Leader by Time magazine in 2018 and has been the director of Science & Education for Footprint Foundation since 2020.
Early years
Figgener grew up in the small, land-locked town of Marl in West Germany where she attended kindergarten, primary school, and high school. In the 11th grade, Figgener did a high school exchange to California where she went to Lindsay High School.
From a young age, Figgener was interested in ocean exploration, likely due to her parents' love for the ocean and frequent vacations close to the ocean. She had the desire to leave Germany and travel the world early in her life. Childhood friends say she already talked in primary school about becoming a marine biologist.
As a child, Figgener liked watching documentaries by Hans Hass and Jacques Yves Costeau and found a role model in Hans Hass' wife Lotte Hass, who was frequently featured in his films. Another big role model of hers was Jane Goodall, after she found the German translation of the book In the Shadow of Man at a public library sale. When Figgener was 13 she started volunteering at the dolphinarium in the Allwetter Zoo in Münster, Germany.
Education
Figgener earned her German Vordiplom (Bachelor of Science) in biology in November 2005 from Eberhard-Karls-University, in Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In March 2010 she was awarded her German Diplom (Masters of Science) in biology from Julius-Maximilian-University, in Würzburg, Germany, majoring in behavioral physiology and animal ecology. Her thesis focused on a genetic paternity assay and general population genetics of the Caribbean leatherback sea turtle population in Costa Rica. In fall 2019, she earned her PhD in marine biology from Texas A&M University in the southern United States. Her dissertation focused on trophic and movement ecology of sea turtles using stable isotope analysis and satellite tracking to gain new insights into the behavioral ecology of olive ridley sea turtles.
Work
Figgener has been working with sea turtles in Central America since 2007, focusing on applying her research findings to the conservation of these animals. Her work highlights the threats to our oceans and its inhabitants due to human impact. Figgener fosters awareness of these issues by speaking out about the difference everyone can make by changing daily habits, such as limiting the use of single-use plastic products.
Since 2020, Figgener has served as the director of Science & Education for Footprint Foundation, the non-profit arm of Footprint. She is still actively involved in sea turtle research and conservation in Costa Rica through her Costa Rican non-profit COASTS and her social enterprise Nāmaka Conservation Science.
Public moments
In 2013, Figgener's good friend and colleague Jairo "Foca" Mora Sandoval was murdered while protecting leatherback turtle nests in Moín, Costa Rica. The news made it around the world and a photo she had taken of Jairo at a project in Ostional, Costa Rica was used for many of the headlines. She was later quoted that this tragic event changed the trajectory of her life and increased her yearning "to have more impact and to do more".
In 2015, Figgener was thrust into the international spotlight when she filmed the removal of a plastic straw stuck in a sea turtle's nostril while on a research expedition for her doctoral dissertation in Costa Rica. Her research team was capturing turtles off the Pacific coast when they found a turtle with something encrusted in its nose that turned out to be a plastic drinking straw. Visiting researcher Dr. Nathan Robinson, who studied ectobionts on sea turtles at that time, successfully removed the plastic straw and Figgener uploaded the video to YouTube. The video was watched and shared millions of times on different platforms and has been officially named as a catalyst for the global anti-straw movement and a turning point for the anti-plastic movement.