Michael Clear

Michael Clear is a Senior Science Associate at Schmidt Sciences, where he supports the Biosciences Institute’s mission to advance our understanding of biology and facilitate the transition of biological innovations into the real world for public benefit.

Prior to joining Schmidt Sciences, Michael was a postdoctoral researcher in bioinformatics at Brookhaven National Laboratory, investigating how environmental factors and microbial interactions influence bioenergy crops. During his tenure as a NASA Space Grant Graduate Fellow, he utilized synthetic lichens to study microbial symbioses through dual-transcriptomics. His interest in complex microbial systems and bioproduction was sparked at Algenol, an algal biofuel company, where he managed bioreactors and modeled the microbial ecology of production systems.​

Michael earned his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Mississippi and holds a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.