Clark began her studies in biology at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, where she was awarded Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts degrees. After two years of study at McGill University, she attended the University of Minnesota studying biophysics and cell physiology. She received her doctorate degree in 1958 from the University of Minnesota. Her own biographical sketch states her degree was in physiology, but the Graduate School's Register of Ph.D. Degrees conferred by the University of Minnesota, July 1956-June 1966, states she received a Ph.D. in Zoology in 1958. Her thesis was entitled "A Study of the Ion Balance of Crayfish Muscle: evidence for two compartments of cellular potassium."