[2][3] Clarke was born in Pontypridd, South Wales, and was educated at Howell's School, Llandaff, from 1930 to 1937, before studying the Natural Sciences Tripos at Girton College, Cambridge, from 1937 to 1940.

In 1951, she moved to work part-time at the National Collection of Type Cultures of bacteria in the Central Public Health Laboratory at Colindale, London.

[5] Her aim in this paper was to present in one volume the fundamentals, basic methodology, and specific applications of gas-liquid chromatography in microbiology and medicine.

In addition to this, some of her papers include are Hydrogen Sulphide Production by Bacteria,[6] An Inducible Amidase Produced by a Strain of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa,[7] Biochemical Classification of Proteus and Providence Cultures[8] and Butyramide-using Mutants of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa 8602 Which Produce an Amidase with Altered Substrate Specificity.

[12] The archive contains material relating to her own life and career (including publications, biographical items, and correspondence) and Clarke's advocacy for women in science.