Ms. Clemens is a C.P.A. in private practice. Ms. Clemens joined the Board of the Missouri Coalition for the Environment in 1990, and has been the Treasurer for ten years.

Ms. Clemens was born and raised in St. Louis. She has been active in supporting the Native American people who face enforced relocation from their ancestral homes in the Four Corners part of the United States. Ms Clemens is also active in the Missouri Votes Conservation Political Action Committee, and serves on the Funding Committee of the Board of the Women's Society of Washington University. She is a member of the board of Great Rivers Environmental Law Center.