Peter Cristofono was born in Massachusetts and has been an avid field collector of New England minerals, gems and fossils for more than 35 years. Beginning with his high school years in New Hampshire and later while majoring in geology at Boston College he assembled a large collection of self-collected specimens from the region. Peter has served as president of the Boston Mineral Club and is currently a director of the Micromounters of New England. He has authored mineralogical articles for various publications and websites. He is well-known for his macro photos of minerals and insects which have appeared in major newspapers, magazines, books, scholarly journals, museum exhibits and various websites including over 3,700 mineral photos on Mindat.org. Peter spends as much time as he can in the field. His home base is Salem, Massachusetts.