Charis Nick-Torok is a NYS licensed attorney, with a JD in law from Albany Law School and a master’s in bioethics from Union Graduate College – Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. She holds certificates in federal emergency response protocols for people and animals (FEMA) and NYC Animal Care and Handling laws. Recently retired from private practice, she continues to assist grass-root animal rescues and has stepped into a new role as the Director of Education and Advocacy for SAFE Worldwide, Inc., an international nonprofit focused on endangered species and habitat protection. Additionally, she serves as the Vice Chair of the NYS Bar Committee on Animals & Law (COAL), as well as a Sr. Vice Chair of the Legislative subcommittee, where she drafted several support memos for animal-related bills that were subsequently signed into NYS law.  Prior to dedicating her professional activities to her lifelong passion for animals, Ms. Nick-Torok’s solo practice focused on issues and concerns related to end-of-life care, mental health, medical ethics, and health law. In her role as an attorney-ethicist, Ms. Nick-Torok served for several years as a clinical ethicist for a regional hospital ethics committee and as a board member for several public and mental health associations and published articles related to bioethics and law. Ms. Nick-Torok comes to Unity with over ten years of experience developing and teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in animal law, health law ethics, and Human-Animal Interaction.  Most recently she served on the faculty of Florida’s Wildlife Forensic Science College of Medicine Distance Learning program, where she taught U.S. and International Wildlife Law & Conservation for several years. Early in her career, she served as a special project staff attorney for the New York State Law Revision Commission, and as a Post Graduate Fellow in Law, Ethics & Health policy at the Hastings Center, in Garrison, NY. 

In addition to her teaching and professional activities, Ms. Nick-Torok is certified in Reiki Level I & II, and Reiki for Animals, and is in the process of establishing a non-profit dedicated to pairing the fostering of feral kittens with assisting people going through difficult transitions.