Charisa Gowen-Takahashi is an associate attorney in the Northwest regional office in Seattle, Washington.

Before joining Earthjustice, Charisa clerked for the Honorable Judge Chun of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Charisa received her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she received a Certificate of Specialization in Environmental Law. Her focuses include ocean and coastal law; environmental justice; and the intersection of the two. During law school, Charisa worked on a California Public Utilities Commission proceeding to provide reliable energy to historically disadvantaged communities in the San Joaquin Valley. She also served as publishing editor for Ecology Law Quarterly and as a research assistant for the Law of the Sea Institute. Prior to law school, Charisa received a B.A. in environmental studies from the University of San Diego and volunteered for a shark conservation program in Indonesia.

As someone who grew up in California and loves all ocean-related activities from scuba diving to paddleboarding, she is trying her best to acclimate to the temperature of the Puget Sound beyond the tide pools.