Michele Clark

Michele Clark joined the Urban and Stream Ecology Lab in 2020 and is the Program Manager for Earth Systems Science for the Anthropocene (ESSA) Graduate Scholars Network and the Grimm lab. Michele leads the ESSA network to equitably address environmental challenges and to re-envision a just and inclusive graduate education system. Michele is co-PI and manager of the Racial Equity in STEM award titled “Immersive, Interdisciplinary, Identity-based Team Science Experiences for Indigenous Graduate Scholars” funded by the National Science Foundation.  

In her research, she studies the plant-human relationship and uses ethnoecological approaches to explore how people understand and relate to environments undergoing rapid ecological change. Michele brings a strong scientific background working across sectors and within governmental agencies (USDA-ARS, USDA-FS, and USDI-NPS). She is passionate about addressing representation in STEM and leads faculty and student sessions in the Mutually Enriching Mentorship program. Michele facilitates the ESSA graduate level reading and reflection seminar and the IIITSE-scholar preparatory session B course each spring.

Michele holds a PhD in Environmental Life Sciences from ASU and a M.S. in Ecosystem Science and Management from Texas A & M University. Her work has focused on invasive plant ecology, fire ecology, ethnoecology, community-based management, and traditional ecological knowledge. She has undertaken research in South Africa, Chile, Costa Rica, and Nepal.