Heidi Renate Ballard serves as an Associate Professor at the Otterbein University Department of Sociology, Criminology and Justice Studies and serves as an affiliate faculty member in Otterbein's Public Health Education program. Heidi joined AHS in 1997 and appreciates the scholarly and social networking opportunities AHS affords. As 2025 AHS President Heidi aims for our 49th Annual Conference to celebrate the social justice and praxis aspects so valued by AHS members. Heidi's areas of specialties include global sociology, global health, environmental sociology, sustainability and social justice studies. Her previous research includes four years of field work and participatory action research (PAR) in Trinidad and Tobago focusing on the impacts of land clearing to build an aluminum smelter next to a rural, 100 year old village. She more recently completed 4 years of PAR in Uganda's West Nile and Rwenzori Mountain regions working with remote rural communities and schools to establish menstrual hygiene management and sexual reproductive health programs and resources. A Bakonzo tribal community in the Rwenzori mountains also requested tribal elder interviews to document the impacts of climate change on life and community in a Rwenzori Mountain valley. Currently, Heidi's spring 2025 sabbatical project aims to design and conduct an international elder long distance hiking survey in partnership with Scotland's Great Outdoor Challenge and the Appalachian Long Distance Hiking Association. This research braids her interests in environmental sociology, public health and sustainability studies while supporting her lifelong passion for outdoor pursuits as it includes a 100 mile solo backpacking trip on the southern leg of the 800 mile Arizona National Trail.

Notes & statements from the President*

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