Clare spent the first part of her career life in the medical profession. She worked as a medical technologist and office manager for doctors in the Fort Sanders professional buildings for 18 years. She received a B.S. degree in botany from the University of Tennessee in 1991 and in 1995 she left the medical profession to pursue a career in science education, earning an M.S. degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She has taught at Oak Ridge High School for 14 years where she currently teaches Anatomy & Physiology and General Biology.