Dr. Clark is an experienced public health practitioner specializing in community capacity building and program evaluation, particularly in rural and underserved communities. Her expertise centers on utilizing a collaborative, utilization-focused approach to ensure data is practical and impactful for quality improvement and decision-making. Dr. Clark’s research interests include evaluating community-based partnerships, interorganizational network analysis, assessing and addressing rural community health, and building rural community capacity.
Over the years, she has led or contributed to evaluations at local, state, and national levels, including significant statewide projects such as the Collaborative Approaches to Well-being in Rural Communities, the Texas Tele-forensic Remote Access Center, and the Field Trauma Triage Guidelines Demonstration Project. Her collaborations extend across a variety of groups including the Texas A&M School of Nursing, the Hogg Foundation, Office of the Attorney General of Texas, Texas Department of State Health Services, National Rural Health Association, and Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.
With two decades of hands-on experience in community health, Dr. Clark has led and participated in many community health assessments, including a long-term assessment study in the Brazos Valley, Texas. Her work emphasizes understanding health status and social determinants in rural areas to drive actionable change.
Dr. Clark is actively engaged in the success of the Texas A&M School of Public Health student. She integrates research into practice by mentoring students and young professionals. She also serves as the Director of Public Health Practice, where she works with other faculty and staff to develop meaningful opportunities for students to participate in public health outside of the classroom through volunteer opportunities, service-learning, field trips, and guest lectures from public health professionals, in addition to providing oversight for the required applied practice experiences (also known as internships or practicum). The Office of Public Health Practice and Dr. Clark have recently received funding from the Texas Department of State Health Services for a Public Health Workforce Development Initiative.
Her teaching interests lie in the teachings of her mentors, Drs. Ken McLeroy, James Burdine, and Monica Wendel, and include the History of Public Health and Ethics, Social and Behavioral Determinants of Health (theory), Program Evaluation, and grant writing.
