Clarke studies astrophysical
fluid dynamics, including accretion and protoplanetary discs and stellar winds. She was the first to demonstrate how protoplanetary disc formation around low-mass young stars is determined by their radiation field. This removes material from the disc and is integral for various models of planet formation and migration. In 2001 she was awarded the
University of Cambridge Pilkington Prize for teaching and learning. She co-authored the
Principles of Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics textbook with Bob Carswell in 2014. It is a primer for the fluid dynamics required to understand astronomical phenomena. Her recent work has combined analytical observation and hydrodynamical simulations in exoplanet discovery. Clarke identified a young star with four planets, the size of Jupiter and Saturn, in orbit around it. The star,
CI Tauri, hosts the first
hot Jupiter candidate in a protoplanetary disc system. She used the
Atacama Large Millimeter Array to search for nearby planets. The closest is in an equivalent orbit to Mercury, whilst the furthest has an orbit three times that of Neptune. She serves as editor of the
Elsevier Journal,
New Astronomy Reviews. She is a member of the
International Astronomical Union. Clarke's other research interests include
self-gravity in disc evolution and formation of
brown dwarfs in unstable multiple systems.
Publications • • == References==