[2] Christiansen earned an undergraduate degree in Geology and Studio Art[3] at Smith College.
[4] Afterwards, she continued her education at a one-year natural science illustration graduate program at the University of California Santa Cruz.
[3] Ed Bell (director of the Scientific American) met Christiansen on a visit he took to the University of California, Santa Cruz's program.
[3] Afterwards, Christiansen moved to Washington DC[4] to become the assistant art director at National Geographic in 1998[5] for a few years.
She returned to the Scientific American in 2007 where she now focuses on print and large features as the senior graphics editor.