Biography
Sarah Matsumoto joined the College of Law as an Assistant Professor of Clinical Education in 2021.
Matsumoto previously served as a Clinical Fellow at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law where she taught at the Environmental Law Clinic for three years. In that role, she supervised teams of students litigating under the Colorado and federal APAs, working on oil and gas-oriented permit challenges, and oversaw other advocacy efforts aimed at improving water and air quality in Colorado and the Rocky Mountain region. Matsumoto also co-taught the clinic seminar, and was a member of DU’s Rocky Mountain Collective on Race, Place, and Law.
Before joining the DU clinic, Matsumoto represented plaintiffs in environmental citizen suits at a firm in Eugene, Oregon. During her time in Eugene, Matsumoto successfully litigated against several large concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), and she was part of the legal team that brought the first successful RCRA citizen suit against a CAFO for polluting groundwater through its improper management of waste. Prior to attending law school, Matsumoto worked in research and development for an international coffee company.
Matsumoto has published Citizens of Washington State Work to Fill Gaps in Regulation of Surface and Groundwater Pollution from CAFOs, 33-SPR Nat. Resources & Env’t 26 (2019), and is finishing an article arguing for an environmental justice approach to protecting the health and safety of food system workers. She has spoken about environmental justice at symposia hosted by the Howard Law Journal and University of Detroit-Mercy Law Review, and has actively attended and presented at the Public Interest Environmental Law Conference, held annually in Eugene, OR.
Matsumoto is a graduate of the University of Washington and Seattle University School of Law, and is a member of the Oregon and Colorado state bars.