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Abstract: Alkaline earth atoms, also known as divalent atoms, exhibit optical transitions that are nearly forbidden by dipole selection rules and have much narrower transition linewidths, ranging from sub-mHz to kHz. The coherent manipulation of these high-quality factor optical transitions leads to exquisite control over the atom-light interaction, opening up new avenues for quantum sensing. In this talk, I will first discuss the recent realization of a first continuous wave Bose Einstein condensate, matter wave analogue of a CW optical laser with fully reflective cavity mirrors. This proof-of-principle demonstration provides a new, hitherto missing piece of atom optics, enabling the construction of continuous coherent-matter-wave devices. In the second half of the talk, I will focus on the development of novel clock-line cooling techniques for enhanced control of lattice-trapped atoms towards next-generation optical lattice clocks or continuous operation of optical clocks.