She brings with her a unique blend of computational expertise, interdisciplinary leadership experience and a deep commitment to protecting scientific innovation during challenging times.
Clark, who joined the university three years ago from Washington State University, brings extensive administrative experience to her new role. "I've had roles that are adjacent to being a chair, and am excited to expand upon those experiences," she explains, referencing her previous positions as director an interdisciplinary materials science and engineering Ph.D. program and of a high-performance computing center. Most recently, she helped establish the Joint Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology between Pacific Northwest National Lab and Washington State University, creating formal pathways for student internships and collaborative funding opportunities.
‘A couple fires and one explosion’
Clark's journey to becoming a leading computational chemist began in an unlikely place — the mountains of north central Washington, where "the nearest hospital was an hour and a half away." Raised by a mother who was a spinner, weaver, and natural fiber artist, Clark jokes, "My mom was a dye chemist, but she would deny that vehemently, saying that natural dyes are magic.”
This unconventional upbringing proved formative. "I think that background inspired a lot of creative thought and curiosity, where exploring fields and mountains was encouraged 100%." says Clark.
Her path toward computational work was, in part, propelled by a series of memorable laboratory mishaps. As an undergraduate at Central Washington University, Clark started in synthetic organic chemistry, working behind blast shields with explosive molecules. "I had a couple fires and one explosion, and we decided that maybe I wasn't a good synthetic organic chemist," she recalls with a laugh. A summer research experience at the University of Southern California reinforced this message when she accidentally condensed oxygen in a vacuum line, creating dangerously explosive frozen oxygen. "After that, the postdoc mentoring me let me tune laser optics, but was clear on, ‘we're not gonna let you do experiments.' So really, the universe told me, in many, many ways, that my love of chemistry had to be manifested using computers."
Allaying separation anxieties
Today, Clark leads groundbreaking research in chemical separations of critical minerals and nuclear materials — work that addresses some of society's most pressing challenges. Her focus centers on rare earth elements, which are essential for everything from high-strength magnets to electronics but notoriously difficult to separate from one another.
"The 15 lanthanide elements that make up most critical materials have similar chemical reactivity and often occur in mixtures with each other," Clark explains. "However, the differences in the way their electrons are arranged leads to important uses as high-field magnets in electronics or as qubits in quantum computers. Separating one lanthanide element from others, or from complex mixtures that like E-waste, is notoriously challenging."
Her research tackles this challenge by using computational modeling and simulation to understand the fundamental mechanisms and energetic driving forces that cause a successful separations process – also called “demixing.” What sets Clark's work apart is her innovative approach to data analysis. "One impactful innovation in my group lies within the applied mathematics and data science tools that we use to analyze simulation data, to identify patterns in the cooperative motion of molecules that leads to successful separation. Her team develops "physics informed data analysis and data science" tools that are specifically adapted for the high dimensional and time dependent data found in chemical processes, rather than applying generic analytical approaches.
Modeling chemical processes on a computer provides crucial molecular-level insights that are often impossible to obtain experimentally. "Within a simulation, you can sample every single reaction that occurs, whether there are competitive processes, and learn how the conditions bias one reaction over another," Clark explains. Such modeling can be particularly valuable when studying radioactive materials, allowing researchers to use computers to "decrease the number of experiments that need to be done and increase the safety of experimental scientists."
Innovation first
As Clark prepares to assume the role of chair, she brings a thoughtful approach to balancing research excellence with administrative responsibilities. Her lab management philosophy emphasizes infrastructure and mentorship: "All of our group meetings are recorded, we have a group Wiki, tutorials, and clear lines of communication between group members. I have been able to recruit fantastic students, postdocs and a Research Professor, since joining the U, and we have created a strong collaborative and mentoring environment.”
Beyond managing her own research, Clark sees her time as chair as an opportunity to protect the broader scientific enterprise during uncertain times. "It is my job to support faculty who are feeling existential pressure to their research programs, to create an infrastructure that safeguards the incredible science that's being done in our department and ensure the training and education of the next generation of scientists and citizens," she states.
In the current climate, when U researchers are being asked to shorten gestation times of research and move towards applications and commercializing quicker, Clark advocates for recognizing the full spectrum of scientific impact, noting that "innovation in science can be unpredictable, where unexpected insight and serendipity can require knowledge and an interdisciplinary perspective that is learned on the decade timescale. Commercialization based on short-term wins can be necessary, but without longer-term intellectual investment is unsustainable.”
Clark's leadership approach is grounded in the same values that shaped her rural upbringing: curiosity, bravery, and resilience. "There's a lot of bravery involved in being a scientist, we constantly put ourselves out there to learn new things, to be evaluated and have dialogue about our ideas,” she observes. "This is an essential part of what we teach our Ph.D. students - to be fearless in the face of the unknown."
As she steps into her new role, Aurora Clark brings both the technical expertise to advance cutting-edge research and the philosophical framework to nurture the next generation of scientists in an increasingly complex world.
By David Pace