Cayenne Engel, M.Sc., is a Staff Research Scientist in urban climate adaptation who joined DRI in September 2024. Based at DRI’s Las Vegas campus, she is dedicating her time to assessing and expanding the region’s urban tree canopy to bring relief to communities burdened by temperatures that regularly soar above 100° Fahrenheit. As an integral part of the Nevada Heat Lab, her work builds on that of her colleagues to develop effective strategies for reducing temperatures in one of the nation’s fastest-warming cities.
Engel grew up in Georgia and followed her passion for ecological research to Nevada in 2007. She came to DRI following roles as a research ecologist with UNLV and as a forester with the State of Nevada. She holds a master’s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from The University of Tennessee and a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science from Agnes Scott College.
In the following interview, Engel shares her passion for public service-oriented research, how Nevada’s unparalleled landscape lured her west, and her love for intricate puzzles.
DRI: Tell us about your background and what brought you to DRI.
Engel: My educational background is really focused on plant ecology and community shifts with global environmental change and other disturbances. I’ve done a lot of work on restoration ecology, working with endangered plants, fire history and patterns, and recovery after fire.
After working in academia for years, I really felt a draw to more applied work. In academia, it sometimes felt like scientists were talking to each other and hadn’t really figured out how to reach out and engage with the public and build their trust. So, I very intentionally made the shift to UNLV to work in a more applied setting focusing on weed management and landscape-level restoration. I later made the shift to state forestry, where I could work directly with partners to help them address land management needs. I worked as a Regional Forester for the state for seven years, working on a wide variety of projects including fire restoration and mitigation, endangered species management, riparian habitat restoration, and urban forestry.
I then became the Urban and Community Forestry Coordinator for the state, where I met Ariel Choinard and learned about DRI’s Nevada Heat Lab. We were on various committees together and often talked about the human impact of heat mitigation and the role that green infrastructure and trees can play. I strongly feel that the field needs to be supported, investigated a bit more, and fleshed out to identify how much tree canopy is needed, where it’s needed, and what impact urban forestry can have on heat mitigation in Nevada’s communities.
DRI: What originally brought you to Nevada?
Engel: I grew up in Georgia, in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. I later moved to Atlanta, Georgia, for college and then went to grad school in Knoxville, Tennessee, where I stayed to take over the lab that I worked in when I got my master’s. After a year or so, I was feeling that calling for a change, and I found a job that looked perfect for my expertise. I moved to Las Vegas for the role, as UNLV Research Scientist partnered with Clark County and Lake Mead National Recreation Area to work on land management issues and questions throughout Southern Nevada.
I was hesitant about moving to Las Vegas at first, because I only knew it from the movies. I didn’t discover until my plane was landing, when I was brought in for the interview, that Las Vegas is surrounded by mountains. I scheduled a couple of extra days to just meander around. And in that time, I went to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Lake Mead, and Valley of Fire State Park. I was shocked by the natural beauty.
DRI: What is your role with the Nevada Heat Lab? What does your day to day look like?
Engel: My role is with the urban forestry program within the Nevada Heat Lab, with the goal of evaluating the heat mitigating benefits that trees provide in this area. So, evaluating the effectiveness of the programs that we have in maintaining and enhancing the tree canopy throughout Clark County and Southern Nevada. We’ll also do some primary research to find techniques that can establish trees more effectively, because just getting them to live through the first few years is a challenge.
Another goal is really trying to evaluate where we are in terms of water use and water needs related to tree planting. That’s a big issue and a huge concern. Trees are something that the public really identifies as a tool that can work — we all know what it feels like to be in the shade. What we don’t really know is the level of cooling increase you get from expanding beyond an individual tree to a cluster of trees, to the neighborhood level. We’re thinking about how much you need at those different scales to be effective, and how much time it would take for us to reach those canopy goals.
DRI: Did you always know that you wanted to be a scientist?
Engel: I was always pretty focused on the natural world. When I was 14 or 15, I started working at a nature center, taking care of the animals and teaching classes. So, when I went to college, I already knew I was interested in environmental issues and environmental policy. I thought I would go towards environmental education or teaching high school science, but I was really lucky that I got connected with a plant geneticist as my mentor when I was in college. I got to work in a lab with him early on, and he encouraged me to try all kinds of different things and apply for internships, which I just never would have thought to do. By the end of my undergraduate experience, I had been doing research at my institution and had summer research experiences. I even had some publications from them, so I was already on the research track.
I went into grad school thinking, ‘Oh, this is super fun.’ And it almost felt a little selfish because it wasn’t as public service oriented as what I expected I would be doing. But I followed my interest in science through grad school and am so fortunate that I found a way to apply my love for ecological research with real community needs. The Nevada Heat Lab is really trying to identify what our communities want and need, what they’re experiencing, and I love that our research questions arise from their answers and not what we assume they might want.
DRI: What are you most excited for in this new role?
Engel: My colleagues — I love working with this group. Everyone I’m working with has such a variety of experiences and thoughts that every time we sit together as a team and explore a question, we come up with such different ideas. It’s really one of those situations where we’re all able to add value, and we get a product or program that just feels really comprehensive because of our diverse inputs. The way that we function is really kind of the opposite of a lot of previous experiences I’ve had where those with different expertise are in separate silos. I really want to be questioned and challenged and make sure that my ideas and the projects that I’m developing dovetail with the needs of the group to get this more comprehensive outcome.
DRI: What work or research are you most proud of?
Engel: The work that I’m most proud of is convening a Tree Working Group in Las Vegas. When I first started as a state urban community forestry program coordinator, there were so many people that reached out about expanding our urban tree canopy. I noticed immediately how many different conversations I was having with people on the topic, but there wasn’t yet a coordinating group. Because of the widespread interest, there were a number of groups working on it and asking similar questions, but they were all sitting in different rooms in different buildings – they weren’t working together. So, I immediately started to create what we ultimately ended up calling the Las Vegas Tree Canopy Working Group. We brought everyone together: the practitioners, arborists, researchers, modelers, urban foresters, and state assembly representatives.
We started by developing a long list of what information we have about our tree canopy. So, things like how much we have, where it’s located, and what condition it’s in, and then identifying what we need, who has what resources, and who is responsible for different projects. We all left our first meeting with so much more knowledge on what’s going on with our urban tree canopy. The Working Group is particularly helpful for bringing people together from different municipalities who don’t otherwise collaborate, because this is one of those quintessential environmental issues that isn’t limited by legislative boundaries.
There’s a lot of energy right now — as heat is getting worse and worse — to find nature-based solutions that can run somewhat passively in the background. Solutions like tree planting give so much more than relief from the heat, they also offer public health benefits and mental health benefits. It’s a really hopeful space to be working in.
DRI: What do you like to do when you’re not working?
Engel: Oh, so many things. I’m a big tinkerer — I like building things. I love crafting. I knit. I love exploring rural Nevada. I love traveling. I have a really big group of friends who I travel locally and internationally with. We’re obsessed with these super fancy wooden puzzles and get together a handful of times a year to work on them together.
DRI: If you could recommend one book to your colleagues, what would it be?
Engel: I’d recommend “Think Again” by Adam Grant. However, if I can recommend a podcast, it would be “The Happiness Lab” with Dr. Laurie Santos.
DRI: Is there anything else that you want the DRI community to know about you?
Engel: I see myself as endlessly curious and wanting to collaborate, so I’m always up for any opportunity to build diverse teams working toward shared goals.
