Clair grew up in northern Virginia and received an undergraduate degree in Biology and Chemistry from the University of North Carolina Asheville. Moving from one mountain range to the next, she began working on her graduate degree at the University of Colorado Boulder the Fall of 2020. She joined through the Interdisciplinary Quantitative (IQ) Biology program, which focuses on crossing disciplinary boundaries, encouraging collaboration, and developing computational skill sets. She is currently working on a PhD in Biochemistry in Dr. Jeffrey Cameron鈥檚 lab and is researching the lifecycle of the carboxysome, a microcompartment found in cyanobacteria (commonly known as blue-green algae) that allows for cyanobacteria to convert atmospheric CO2 into sugars for life.听
With a love for all things green, Clair spends her weekends backpacking, tending her jungle of houseplants (complete with her 鈥渏ungle-cat鈥� Kiki), or fly fishing. She also works as a freelance artist, primarily creating digitally painted landscapes or graphic design work for board games. Clair plans to pursue a career focused on addressing climate change through applied research and scientific outreach.