He has completed dozens of magazine assignments, 8 of them for National Geographic Magazine covering topics ranging from ocelots , tree frogs and monkeys to bats, deception in animals, visitors to a flowering rain forest tree, and orchids. Christian is interested in showing species in their ecosystem context, and sharing interesting behaviors. For the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Christian photographed a coffee table/ popular science book about the forest of Barro Colorado Island (A Magic Web, Oxford University Press 2002, second updated and redesigned edition published 2011 by STRI), co-authored by  Dr. Egbert Leigh, and has published a similar type book on orchids in 2011 (Deceptive Beauties, The University of Chicago Press). Christian is Associate for Communication of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and a founding fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP.com). Christian sees himself as a visual translator, sharing the extraordinary beauty and scientific fascination of tropical ecosystems with the general public and thereby raising awareness for their conservation.