VALERIE C. CLARK, PH.D.
CURRICULUM VITAE PDF
Executive Director and President of the non-profit i.F.r.o.g.s.
Indigenous Forest Research Organization for Global Sustainability
Post Graduate Studies
• 2011-2012: Postdoc in Laboratory of Prof. Ryan Van Wagnoner and Chris Ireland, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112
• 2008- 2011: PhD student in the Laboratory of Prof. Chris Shaw,
School of Pharmacy, Queen’s Univeristy in Belfast, Northern Ireland, U.K.
• December 2007: M.Sc. in Chemical Biology (Department of Chemistry
& Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY; sponsored by Prof.
Jerrold Meinwald; rotations 2005-6)
• May 2004: M.A. in Chemistry (Department of Chemistry, Columbia University;
sponsored by Prof. Koji Nakanishi)
• Summer 2003: Visiting scientist at Columbia University’s Biosphere
2 Center’s Chemistry Unit, sponsored by Professors Koji Nakanishi and
Jerrold Meinwald
• 2002-3: M.A. student in Conservation Biology, Dept. Ecology, Evolution,
& Environ. Biology, Columbia Univ. & Dept. of Herpetology, American
Museum Natural History- C. J. Raxworthy
• Summer 2002: Internship with John W. Daly, PhD, at the National Institutes
of Health (NIH)
Undergraduate Studies
1997- May 2002 University of Florida (UF), Gainesville; graduated with Highest
Honors
B.S. degree in Zoology & B.S. degree in Chemistry with Biochemistry option
Research and other Professional Interests
König, E., V. C. Clark, C. Shaw and O. R. P. Bininda-Emonds. 2012. Molecular cloning of skin peptide precursor-encoding cDNAs from tibial gland secretion of the Giant Monkey Frog, Phyllomedusa bicolor (Hylidae, Anura). Peptides, 38: 371-376.
Clark, V. C.*, L. Harinantenaina, M. Zeller, W. Ronto, J. Rocca, A. T. Dossey, D. Rakotondravony, D. G. I. Kingston and C. Shaw (Publication Date Web: January 30, 2012, Article). "An Endogenous Bile Acid and Diet-Sequestered Sucrose from Skin Secretions of Alkaloid-Sequestering Poison Frogs." J. Nat. Prod., 75(3): 473-478.
Clark, V. C. 2010. Collecting arthropod and amphibian secretions for chemical analyses. Behavioral and Chemical Ecology W. Zhang and H. Liu. New York, Nova Science Publishers, Inc.: 1-46.
Means, D. B., Duellman, W. E., and V. C. Clark. 2008. Ovipositing behavior of the egg-brooding frog Stefania ayangannae (Anura, Hemiphractidae). Phyllomedusa. 7(2): 143-8.
Soriano, E. V., V. C. Clark and S. E. Ealick. 2007. Structures of human deoxycytidine
kinase product complexes. Acta Crystallographica D63: 1201-1207.
Clark, V. C.*, V. Rakotmalala, O. Ramilijoana, L. Abrell and B. L. Fisher.
2006. Individual variation in alkaloid content of poison frogs of Madagascar
(Mantella; Mantellidae). Journal of Chemical Ecology. 32: 2219-2233.
Clark, V. C.*, C. J. Raxworthy, V. Rakotomalala, P. Sierwald, and B. L. Fisher.
2005. Convergent evolution of chemical defense in poison frogs and arthropod
prey between Madagascar and the Neotropics. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102:11617-11622.
Daly, J. W.*, H. M. Garraffo, T. F. Spande, V. C. Clark, J. Ma, H. Ziffer
and J. F. Cover Jr. 2003. Evidence for an enantioselective pumiliotoxin 7-hydroxylase
in dendrobatid poison frogs of the genus Dendrobates. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.
USA 100: 11092-11097.
Clark, V. C. (2001). “Rana heckscheri—Ectoparasites.” Natural
History Notes. Herpetological Review 32(1): 36.
Clark, V. C. (1998). Frog Skin Secretions. Reptile Hobbyist. 3(5): 78-82.
Thesis: Undergraduate---Clark, V. C. (2002). The effects of submerged vegetation
density, water depth, and substrate on argulid parasite abundance on Rana
heckscheri tadpoles. University of Florida, Gainesville on microfiche.
Acknowledgements
in Papers
Daly, J. W., T. F. Spande and H. M. Garraffo (2005). Alkaloids from Amphibian
Skin: A Tabulation of Over Eight-Hundred Compounds. J. Nat. Prod. 68(10):
1556-1575.
Daly, J. W., T. Kaneko, et al. (2002). Bioactive alkaloids of frog skin: Combinatorial
bioprospecting reveals that pumiliotoxins have an arthropod source. Proc.
Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99(22): 13996-14001.
Hutchinson, D. A., A. Mori, A. H. Savitzky, G. M. Burghardt, et al. (2007).
The Dietary Sequestration of Defensive Steroids in Nuchal Glands of the Asian
Snake Rhabdophis tigrinus. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 104(7): 2265-2270.
Service for Peer Review
National Geographic Society grants, PLoS ONE, Journal of Natural Products
Presentations
1. 2012: ‘Exploring the Diversity and Ecology of Amphibian Skin Chemicals’ invited lectures delivered at:
A. A.Watson Armour III Seminar Series at the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, Illinois, USA (June 13, 2012),
B. Iowa State University, at El Zota Biological Station, COSTA RICA (May field course)
C. Plenary lecture at Herpetos Venonosos Meeting, Valencia, SPAIN (March 24, 2012)
D. Integrative Biology, University of Texas at Austin, TX, USA (February 27, 2012),
E. New Mexico Herpetological Society, Albuquerque, NM, USA (February 25, 2012),
F. Biology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA (February 10, 2012).
2. July 2011: Invited oral for ‘Student Research Award’ at annual meeting of the American Society of Pharmacognosy in San Diego, California, USA. ‘A novel endogenous bile acid in bittersweet poison frog skin may explain dietary alkaloid sequestration.’
2. May 2011: Invited seminar, School of Natural Sciences, National University Ireland Galway, IRELAND. Exploring the diversity and ecology of amphibian skin chemicals.’
3. April 2011: Wild Evolution Group Seminar, Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, SCOTLAND, UK. ‘Exploring the diversity and ecology of amphibian skin chemicals.’
4. April 2011: Student oral at British Ecology Society Tropical Ecology Group annual meeting in Newcastle, ENGLAND, UK. ‘Tropical poison frogs in degraded Madagascar rainforests have fewer defensive skin chemicals than those from intact habitats.’
5. January 2011: Invited Seminar, Chemistry Department, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, FL, USA. ‘Exploring the diversity and ecology of amphibian skin chemicals.’
6. December 2010: Invited plenary lecture, Congreso Uruguayo de Zoologia, Montevideo, URUGUAY. ‘Exploring the diversity and ecology of amphibian skin chemicals.’
7. July 2010: Invited plenary lecture, Lough Boora Community Center, County Offaly, IRELAND. ‘Exploring the biomedical potential of amphibian skin secretions.’
8. December 2009: Invited lecture at National Geographic Head Quarters in Washington, DC.
9. July 2009: Paper—25th Annual Meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology, Neuchatel, SWITZERLAND. ‘New approach to study poison frog secretions reveals novel frog skin chemistry.’
10. June 2008: Poster—Association for Tropical Biology & Conservation 2008 annual meeting, SURINAME—“A tribute to John W. Daly, the pioneer of frog chemistry.
‘The ecology and evolution of chemical defense in poison frogs and their dietary arthropods.’
Variations of this lecture were presented to audiences detailed in 11-16 below
11. December 2007: Invited lecture and demonstrations, presented to MacArthur fellows and founder of Google, at Ranomafana National Park, MADAGASCAR.
12. October 2007: Invited lecture at National Geographic Head Quarters in Washington, DC.
13. July 2007: Invited plenary lecture at joint meeting of the Society of Colombian Entomologists (SOCOLEN)/Florida Entomological Society in Cartagena, COLOMBIA.
14. July 2006: Paper-- 22nd Annual Meeting of the International Society of Chemical Ecology, Barcelona, SPAIN.
15. June 2006: Cornell Chemistry Graduate Student Summer Seminar series. NY, USA
16. Dec. 2005: Invited lecture-- Cornell Herpetological Society, Ithaca, NY, USA
17. August 2002: Poster (w/ John W. Daly, PhD)—NIH Summer Student Poster Day—‘Profiles of Biologically Active Alkaloids from Dendrobatid Poison Frogs’ Bethesda, MD, USA.
18. April 2002: Paper--Zoology Undergraduate Research Symposium—‘The effects of submerged vegetation density, water depth, and substrate on argulid parasite abundance on Rana heckscheri tadpoles.’ Gainesville, FL, USA
19. March 2002: Paper—The 25th Annual All Florida Herpetology Conference— ‘Ecological factors on argulid parasitism of Rana heckscheri tadpoles.’ Gainesville, FL, USA
Scholarships, Studentships, Funding/Grants
2011 American Society of Pharmacognosy, Student Research Award consisting of engraved plaque and travel funds to attend annual meeting (San Diego, CA, USA)
2010 Queen’s University in Belfast Emily Sarah Montgomery Travel Scholarship to present plenary lecture at Zoology Congress in Montevideo, Uruguay (£650)
2009 International Society of Chemical Ecology Student travel award ($400 to defray costs to present at annual meeting in Neuchatel, Switzerland + award of 2010 membership fees)
2009-2010 National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration grant for salamander fieldwork in California, USA ($8,298 to Clark as PI)
2008-2011 Post graduate student fellowship including all fees and student stipend, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK
2007-9 National Geographic Society Committee for Research and Exploration
grant for fieldwork in Madagascar ($24,895 to Clark as PI for 2007-8 expedition)
2006 Cornell Univ. Graduate School Conference Grant ($650 to defray costs
to present at International Society of Chemical Ecology meeting in Barcelona,
Spain)
2005-6 TA appointment in the Department of Chemistry & Chem. Biology,
Cornell Univ.
2003-2005 Faculty Fellowship for PhD studies, Department of Chemistry, Columbia
Univ.
2003 Biosphere 2 Chemistry Unit Summer Stipend from Columbia University ($4,900)
2003 Allocation of CJ Raxworthy’s NSF BSI funds for Madagascar fieldwork
($9,000)
2002 International House (NYC) Resident Scholarship ($1,000/semester)
2002 NIH Summer Student Program ($10,000)
2001 International Center Tropical Ecology Scholarship, Summer Study Abroad
($1K)
1997-2001 John Hopkins Univ. Applied Physics Laboratory Scholarship (½
tuition & fees)
1997-2001 Honors UF Out of State student scholarship, four year value $10,000
Honors, Honorary Societies
and Elected Offices
• 2005-2012 Press coverage of Clark et al. PNAS 2005, JCE 2006, JNP 2012 papers:
National Geographic Magazine and online news, New York Times, Chemical &
Engineering News, Science, Scientific American (+worldwide affiliates), Chemistry
World (Royal Society UK), London Telegraph News, Bloomberg News, San Francisco
Chronicle, National Public Radio--five appearances on three radio shows 2006-8,
BBC October 4 2006 Leading Edge Radio Program, numerous websites (e.g., mongabay.com,
livescience.com, yahoo), science magazines, newspapers and others in Mexico,
Canada, Scandinavia, Germany, France, Korea, Vietnam, Madagascar, and many
others. 2009 features in German and Chinese magazines.
•2011 2011 Student Research Award from the American Society of Pharmacognosy
•2002 Elected Sigma Xi member (by Univ. of Florida Chapter)
• 2002, May B.S. with Highest Honors in Zoology and (Bio)chemistry at
the Univ. of Florida
• 1997-2002 University of Florida Honors Program
• 2001 Elected Golden Key National Honor Society member
• 1997 State of Maryland Distinguished Scholar Certificate Award, Honorable
Mention
• In High school, elected to senior board and vice-president of French
club (1996-7)
• 1997 Graduated with honors at Mt. Hebron High School, Ellicott City,
Maryland.
Membership in
Scientific Organizations
Sigma Xi (elected in 2002)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
American Chemical Society (ACS)
American Society for Mass Spectrometry (ASMS; 2006-7)
Cornell Herpetological Society (CHS)
Florida Entomological Society (FES)
International Society of Chemical Ecology (ISCE)
Society for the Study of Amphibians and Reptiles (SSAR; 2000-present)
Teaching Experience
1. 2012 Spring: Tropical Field Biology Course in Costa Rica (Prof. Jill Pruetz, Iowa State Univ)
2. 2008 Fall: TA for Statistics, Queen’s University in Belfast, U.K.
3. 2006 Fall: TA for Organic Chemistry Laboratory (Cornell Univ. Chem 251)
4. 2006 Spring: TA/guest lecturer, World Of Chemistry, Prof. Roald Hoffmann
(CU Chem 106)
5. 2005 Fall: Gave invited lectures and other voluntary assistance to Chem
105, the Language of Chemistry (Chemical Ecology oriented), for Prof. Jerrold
Meinwald (Cornell University)
6. 2005 Fall: TA for General Chemistry Laboratory (Cornell University Chem
207)
7. 2004 Fall: TA for Organic Chemistry Lecture Recitations (Columbia University)
8. 2003 Fall: TA for Organic Chemistry Laboratory (Columbia University)
9. 2000-2: Tutored extensively for Prof. Steven Benner’s Biochemistry
(CHM 4207, U Florida)
10. 2002 Spring: TA for Prof. Ron Wolff’s Biophotography PGY 5246 (Univ.
of Florida)
Foreign Languages
Reading, writing, and basic speaking competence in Spanish; fluent French;
kely Malagasy.
2003, 2007-8: Seven months of research expeditions in the francophone country
of Madagascar.
2001, summer: Six weeks in Yucatan, Mexico with host family.
1995, summer: One month in France with host family.
Other Certifications/Talents
• Certified SCUBA (1997) with over 400 dives (Florida, Belize, Madagascar,
Mexico, Spain).
• Photographer (Nikon D200 and Nikon Coolpix 995; published and exhibitions
with openings).
Work and Volunteer Positions
A. Retail
1995-1996 Reptile/Amphibian Specialist at Petco pet store, Ellicott City,
Maryland.
1998 Summer job at Deep Six Watersports scuba shop, Stuart, Florida.
B. Zoological Parks, Aquaria:
1996 Worked primarily with anurans at the Baltimore Zoo Reptile House (Anthony
Wisnieski), Maryland
2002 Weekend internship at the National Aquarium in Baltimore (Jack Cover,
Jr.)
C. Museum related:
2002-3 Based at Herpetology Dept. as Columbia U. graduate student, American
Museum of Natural History for research with Mantella frogs (Dr. Christopher
Raxworthy)
2000-2 Occasional volunteer in Herpetology collections at the Florida Museum
of Natural History (under Prof. Max A. Nickerson, Curator), Univ. of Florida
D. Editorial related:
2000 Edited, created chapter summaries, and added figures and paragraphs of
text to Dr. Steven A. Benner’s “Post-Genomic Biochemistry”
textbook, used in CHM 4207 at UF and other institutions (acknowledged within)
E. Field Experience
2007-8 Led 4-month expedition sponsored by the National Geographic Society
to NW and SE Madagascar to study diet and chemistry of leaf litter frogs.
2007 One month expedition to Wokomung Massif, Guyana, South America with D.
Bruce Means to find new species of toxic frogs on a remote tepui summit
2003 Led 3-month expedition to SE rainforests of Madagascar, including Ranomafana
National Park and areas south to Tolongoina; these studies focused on the
ecology and chemistry of arthropods and Mantellinae frogs, especially Mantella
spp.
1999-2002 Senior thesis project on Rana heckscheri tadpoles and their argulid
parasites at borrow pits near I-10 in Osceola National Forest, Florida
2001-2 Independent photographic study of the alligators of Alachua Sink, Paynes
Prairie State Reserve, Gainesville, Florida
2001-2 Volunteer at Rhinoceros dig in Newberry, FL for Florida Museum of Natural
History/UF, headed by Prof. Richard Hurlbert
2001 August--one week at BFREE (Belize Foundation for Research and Environmental
Education) research station of Jacob Marlin, on Bladen River, Belize
2001 June-August Yucatan, Mexico Ecology class—Six 3 day field trips
2001 May-June Salamander sampling protocol survey, Great Smoky Mountains,
USGS
2001 April Three days with UF Herpetology class in Apalachicola, Florida
2000 August One week with Prof. Max Nickerson in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park (TN and NC) monitoring cryptobranchid populations on an USGS
project (timed snorkeling and scooping surveys)
2000 May Week long camping field course at Ordway Preserve, Melrose, Florida
called Wildlife Field Techniques, WIS 4945 at Univ. of Florida
F. Laboratory Experience
2009-10 Thermo Orbitrap Mass Spectrometers, de novo sequencing of tryptic peptide fragments (Volunteer, J. Busby Laboratory, Scripps, Florida, USA)
2008-11 HPLC, MALDI, pharmacology, cloning and sequencing of peptides from amphibian
skin secretions (Prof. Chris Shaw, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University
in Belfast)
2006-7 Chemical Ecology, Natural Products Chemistry, GC-MS, and NMR (Prof.
Jerrold Meinwald, Cornell Univ. Dept. of Chemistry & Chemical Biology)
2005-6 Fourier Transform Mass Spectrometry (Prof. Fred McLafferty, Cornell
Chemistry)
2005 X-ray crystallographic studies of deoxycytidine kinase complexes, protein
expression and purification, etc. (Prof. Steven Ealick)
2003-5 GC-MS of dietary sources of alkaloids in Mantella frogs, at the Biosphere
2 Chemistry Unit in Arizona and at Columbia University Chemistry Dept. (Prof.
Koji Nakanishi)
2004-5 Isolation of gram quantities of ginkgolides for pharmacological studies,
kinetics of A2E formation (Prof. Koji Nakanishi, Columbia Chemistry)
2002 May-August—Chemist/Biologist position via the NIH Summer Student
Program; worked with John W. Daly, PhD, Section on Pharmacodynamics, Laboratory
of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney
Diseases (NIDDK), NIH, Bethesda, Maryland (please see publications and acknowledgements)
2000 Organic Synthesis in Prof. Steven Benner’s Biochemistry group (UF)
with Dr. Kevin Devine. Non-standard nucleotides project, uridine derivative
synthesis.
Chemistry Lab courses taken at UF: General Chemistry 2045L, 2046L; Organic
Chemistry 2211L; Analytical Chemistry 3120L; Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
4302L; Organic Spectroscopy 5235; Biophysical Chemistry 4413L
Collaborators on National Geographic and i.F.r.og.s. Sponsored MADAGASCAR RESEARCH:
Dr. Brian L. Fisher (Associate Curator and Chair of Entomology, California
Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, California AND Antananarivo, Madagascar)
Valérie Prisca Rakotomalala (Research Assistant at California Academy
of Sciences Ant Lab (BL Fisher) in Antananarivo, Madagascar)
Prof. Hery Rakatodravony (Dept. of Animal Biology, Univ. Antananarivo,
Madagascar)
Prof. Daniel Rakatodravony (Dept. of Animal Biology, Univ. Antananarivo,
Madagascar)
Dr. Petra Sierwald (Associate Curator--Zoology, Insects, Field Museum of Natural
History, Chicago; specializes on spiders and millipedes)
Prof. Patricia C. Wright (Founder and Executive Director Centre ValBio, and Institute for the Conservation of Tropical Environments,
Dept Anthropology, Stony Brook University)
Numerous other collaborative studies are in progress and details of faculty and student collaborators will be posted on website.
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