Clinton Shock has enthusiasm for plants and seeks to use science and education to solve horticultural, environmental and social problems. His research develops economically viable options that are voluntarily implemented by growers. Shock has envisioned and generated win-win solutions to problems such as credit and market access for poor growers in the Brazil, revegetation in the Amazon, "sugar end" of potato in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, groundwater contamination in Oregon, irrigation-induced erosion, and production of specialty crops. As director of an Oregon State University experiment station from 1984 to 2018, he headed cooperative efforts to improve growers' yields and profitability while simultaneously correcting environmental or social problems. This work has resulted in drip irrigation technology options for onion growers and improved water quality in the Treasure Valley of Oregon and Idaho.