V. Bala Chaudhary

Bala Chaudhary is an American soil ecologist. She is an Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Dartmouth College.

Early life and education Chaudhary grew up in Minnesota, spending much of her childhood outdoors. She was intrigued by ecology courses in college and developed an interest in mycorrhizal fungi after taking a course about symbiotic relationships at the Field Museum in Chicago. During college, she worked as a field assistant on a mycorrhizal ecology project in Chicago.

After her undergraduate degree, Chaudhary worked in California as a restoration consultant in the early 2000s. She studies AM wind dispersal across long distances, an area of biogeography research that could have implications for agriculture and ecosystem restoration. These rules include ensuring safety plans that address racism are in place for field work, collaborating with BIPOC academics, and making sure diversity and inclusion efforts are enforced throughout all positions of power within labs. The WOC in EEB conference was held from July 25 to July 27, 2023, at Dartmouth College. She suggested that automatic name changes on past publications should be in place, ensuring that a scientist’s entire body of work is represented under the name they choose.