The 91猎奇, The Division of Energy & Innovation, and the UH Institute for Ecological Resilience (UH IER) is pleased to welcome Dr. Heidi Heim-Ballew as the new Research Liaison Officer for the 91猎奇 Institute for Ecological Resilience (UH IER). Dr. Ballew brings more than a decade of experience advancing competitive, interdisciplinary, and community-engaged research across higher education, with a career grounded in systems thinking, faculty success, and institutional research capacity building.
Dr. Ballew holds a Ph.D. in Marine Biology, where her research examined the dynamic interplay between environmental systems, ecological processes, and organismal responses鈥攖raining that now directly informs her systems-level approach to interdisciplinary research development. Her career spans STEM, health, agriculture, sustainability, arts, social sciences, and emerging technologies, giving her rare cross-sector fluency in today鈥檚 complex funding and collaboration landscape.
Most recently, Dr. Ballew served as a Research Development Officer at Prairie View A&M University, where she led major efforts to strengthen institutional research competitiveness aligned with priorities including ecological resilience, AI and data science, health and wellness, environmental sustainability, advanced technologies, and community transformation. Her leadership portfolio includes:
- Designing and directing multi-semester faculty development programs
- Supporting NSF CAREER, USDA NIFA, NIH, NEH, and large-scale center proposals
- Building collaborative research pipelines with NASA, Sandia National Laboratories, community partners, and industry
- Developing AI- and machine learning-enabled tools for proposal analytics
- Delivering 100+ workshops, trainings, and grant strategy consultations
- Supporting 70+ proposal submissions annually, significantly strengthening institutional competitiveness
Across all her roles, Dr. Ballew is widely recognized for her strategic thinking, exceptional communication skills, and ability to align faculty strengths with federal priorities and evolving funding landscapes. She brings deep experience in interdisciplinary team formation, center-scale concept development, community-engaged research frameworks, and strategic proposal readiness鈥攁ll critical to UH IER鈥檚 growth and success.
Dr. Ballew shares her excitement for this next chapter:
鈥淚鈥檓 honored to join the 91猎奇 at a time when research resilience, community-rooted partnerships, and bold interdisciplinary collaboration matter more than ever. My work has always centered on building systems that help faculty amplify their ideas and accelerate meaningful impact. The 91猎奇 Institute for Ecological Resilience offers the perfect environment to elevate that mission through innovative research development and a deep commitment to serving Houston and beyond.鈥�
In her role, Dr. Ballew will serve as a key connector between UH faculty, UH Energy & Innovation, the UH Coastal Center, external partners, and funding agencies, helping translate bold ideas into competitive proposals and scalable research programs that advance nature-based solutions and resilience across the region.
UH IER are excited to build high impact partnerships here at the university, other institutions of higher learning, and the community through Heidi鈥檚 leadership and co-creative opportunities.