Susan Clary is a native Floridian with a lifelong love of the environment. Born and raised in St. Petersburg, she grew up swimming, sailing and scuba diving off the Gulf of Mexico. As a young naturalist, Susan explored the state’s beautiful resources -- from Panama City and St. George’s Island, to Central Florida’s Wekiva Springs, Canaveral National Seashore and Fort DeSoto, to Islamorada, Marathon and Key West. She grew up handling snakes and turtles, became a certified NAUI scuba diver at age 15, camped along the Suwanee River and went spelunking in the caves of the Withlacoochee State Forest.
Susan’s nature exploration has taken her beyond her home state to Mammoth Cave in Kentucky, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Big Bend National Park in Texas, the Painted Desert, Petrified Forest and Grand Canyon in Arizona, Sequoia and Yosemite National Parks in California, the Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee and North Carolina, Niagara Falls in Canada and the U.S., Mesa Verde, Hoover Dam and the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, Mount Rainier National Park in Washington and Acadia National Park in Maine.
Susan (middle) with her sister Barbara Clary Zayas de Culbertson, brother Michael Clary, mother Josephine Zayas Clary, and father Emmett Clary.
Susan earned a degree in English from Rollins College and studied journalism at the University of South Florida. She was chosen as a Knight Fellow in Specialized Journalism at the University of Maryland and completed course work through the Hillsborough Community College Environmental Studies Program.
After graduation, Susan joined the St. Petersburg Times as a journalist covering criminal justice and legal affairs. As a reporter and columnist, she also wrote about politics, trends, the environment and the Hispanic community. Susan returned to Orange County five years ago to join the Orlando Sentinel as its federal and state court reporter, often appearing as a legal expert on cable news partner CFN-13. She had a brief stint covering the environment in West Orange.
Susan, 38, currently works as a communications specialist. She was previously a criminal defense investigator, special projects director and assistant to the elected Public Defender in the Ninth Judicial Circuit in Orlando.
Susan serves as a Board Member of Orange Audubon and is on its Conservation Committee. She belongs to the Florida Sport Paddling Club, American Canoe Association and Sierra Club, among other conservation organizations.
As a journalist, Susan was honored with the Sigma Delta Chi, Green Eyeshade, Florida Society of Newspaper Editors, National Headliner and Society of Professional Journalists Awards. She was named Tampa’s Hispanic Woman of the Year in Media.
Susan, whose mother is Cuban, belongs to the National Association of
Hispanic Journalists, serves as a Board Member of the Hughes Supply Boys &
Girls Club, which is working on a club in the Parramore neighborhood, and
was appointed by Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer to the city’s Certification
Appeal Board. She is an affiliate member of the Orange County Bar, a
board-certified and Florida-licensed Investigator and a Florida Notary.
Susan lives in Winter Park with her two schnauzers, one Florida box
turtle, and a Dutch rabbit.
Paid Political Advertisement paid for and approved by
the Susan Clary Campaign for Orange Soil and Water Conservation District
127 W. Fairbanks Ave.; PMB 412
Winter Park, FL 32789