Balch was named an Ecological Study of America (ESA) Early Career Fellow (2016-2020) for her work in fire risk, prevention, and ramifications of wildfires in temperate and tropical ecosystems. In 2017, Balch, Bethany A. Bradley, John T. Abatzogloue, Chelsea Nagya, Emily J. Fuscod, and Adam L. Mahooda published a paper which examined humans' role in the recent increase in wildfires in the past few decades. Wildfires are now being set during all seasons and in places where fire is not naturally occurring. The result of this paper found that wildfires are the consequence of lightning (16%) and humans (84%). Later in 2017, Balch brought together some of the top scientists in the fields of geography, fire ecology, and data analysis to compile extensive amounts of data to make climate models. With these people, she created the Earth Lab project at the University of Colorado, Boulder.