Jeffrey Clary is Senior Director of Climate Strategies at the Foundation for California Community Colleges. This new area of focus at the Foundation bridges existing institutional strengths in workforce development, equity and community impact, and facilities and operations to address climate-related challenges facing Californians. Community Colleges provide unique opportunities to partner with agencies, industries, tribal communities, labor, grass-roots organizations, non-profits and individuals with stakes in environmental justice, climate adaptation, and climate mitigation. Clary brings many years of experience navigating institutional ecosystems and creating partnerships to build programs and achieve impact.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Clary served as administrative director for the UC Davis Natural Reserve System, a network of research, teaching and outreach field stations located in natural settings across northern California. The Natural Reserves host environmental science researchers from around the world, many of whom focus on climate change impacts on natural landscapes of California.

For more than five years, Clary proudly served as adjunct professor at Cosumnes River College, where he taught biology and biology lab for future health and veterinary professionals and for biology majors. He also served a year as a graduate program coordinator in the plant sciences for a consortium of universities in Switzerland.

Clary earned his bachelor of science in biology at University of Texas, Austin, and his PhD in ecology at the University of California, Davis. He also received a Fulbright scholarship for research at the Institute of Agrifood Research and Technology in Barcelona, Spain, and completed a postdoc in plant ecology at the University of Montpellier III in France.