Halleh Balch

Bio

Halleh B. Balch is an experimental physicist and HHMI Hanna H. Gray Faculty Fellow at Stanford University. Her research broadly focuses on advancing imaging, spectroscopy, and nanophotonics with a focus on applications in oceanography and water sustainability. Halleh received her PhD in physics from the University of California Berkeley and her undergraduate degree from Swarthmore College in physics and literature. Halleh joined Stanford as an Assistant Professor in the Doerr School of Sustainability in August 2025.

Academic Appointments

• Assistant Professor, Oceans
• Assistant Professor (By courtesy), Electrical Engineering
• Member, Bio-X

Honors & Awards

• HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellow, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• NSF Ocean Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellow, National Science Foundation (2022-2024)

Professional Education

• NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, National Science Foundation, Ocean Sciences
• PhD, University of California Berkeley, Physics
• MA, University of California Berkeley, Physics
• BA, Swarthmore College, Physics, Literature