Cris Amarillas, Ph.D. brings her passion for plants, herbalism, nature and advocacy to United Plant Savers. She hopes to connect people to place and the plants in their habitat to ignite a strong sense of connection that inspires conservation of these important flora. Her background spans teaching, expression and action. She is currently the Chief Science Officer of Botanicals at Eurofins Laboratories, where she shares her commitment for botanical testing with the industry. Prior to working at Eurofins, Cris worked for Traditional Medicinals in Quality and R&D, where she learned how to address the challenges and rigor of maintaining a brand’s quality while growing their market share. She was honored to be a formulator, expressing her creativity through the lens of traditional herbalism and her diverse heritage.
Cris is dedicated to cultivating a connection to nature. Before she connected to terrestrial plants, she worked with marine life. She was a research diver in San Diego during undergrad. She worked and volunteered at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, tending to penguins, connecting with young people and conducting water chemistry. As an environmental educator, she ignited curiosity for the environment and a commitment for conservation.
Volunteerism has always been a part of her life. From a young age, she saw the value in volunteering. She has served in many volunteer capacities from Key Club, hospital volunteer, Sierra Club, Surfrider and wildlife rehabilitation. Most recently, she volunteered as a raptor handler and educator at the Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa, California.
Cris studied permaculture design through Earth Activist Training with Starhawk, Penny Livingston and Erik Olsen in Northern California. She is a clinical herbalist, completing two certificate programs at the California School of Herbal Studies (CSHS). She holds her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University. She studied visual art and chemistry during undergrad, completing her degrees from the University of California, San Diego. She continues to teach at CSHS. She enjoys gardening, birding and being in the ocean, scuba diving, sailing, and swimming. She loves observing plants and nature.
