Task Force Member Introductions: Cassie
Interview and Words By Esther Hewitt
Cassandra, who goes by Cassie, is a returning Task Force member. She was one of the original members from 2021, when, during the height of the pandemic, every meeting was on Zoom, and isolation was the norm. She is optimistic and friendly, with contagious enthusiasm, and brings experience and an energy grounded in a deep love for the land and community. I met Cassandra at Slow Burn, in a 100-year-old adobe building turned cozy coffee shop, and enviously eyed her red chile chai, regretting my third cup of coffee for the day. I asked Cassandra about the path that led her to apply for the task force, and this is the story in her words.
I was born and raised in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where we lived on land outside of town. All of my mom's family is from around northern NM and has lived there for many generations. I think that people who grew up in NM, no matter their culture, are very land-based. We understand how important the land is and that we’re a connected system, not two separate things. Drought is part of life, and because it’s a big concern, we learn principles of water conservation from an early age.
I loved where I grew up, and looking back, I can see how these experiences shaped me. I used to play outside all the time, catching ladybugs and walking around with my mom as she taught me about the plants and remedies that grow around our home. I think my interest in climate change comes from observing changes in the natural environment during my lifetime. By the time I was in middle school, I would babysit my younger nieces and nephews, and I could see that things were changing. I would take them down to the Rio Gallinas to catch crawdads and splash around, but more often than not, the river would dry up in the middle of summer, which hadn’t happened in my childhood. We used to have to keep a toboggan by the driveway so we could carry things in the winter, but things changed really fast, and those big snowstorms became a rare occurrence. In 2012, during my senior year, we experienced an especially bad drought, which stressed the animals and caused black bears to wander into town. This was new, and though Las Vegas is nestled in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, I knew that we weren’t close enough to make lockdowns due to bears in the parking lot a regular occurrence. These experiences sparked my interest in climate change and the environment.
I left NM after high school and moved to Iowa to attend Grinnell College. Iowa was very different; everything was so green! There were all these lovely (and to me, exotic) corn and soybean fields, and it was rural but also at the heart of globalization. It opened my eyes to the outsized impact society can have on the environment. For example, Iowa has <.01% of its natural prairie intact in the entire state because the soils were so nutrient-rich from the prairie grasses. This good soil led to the nearly full conversion of the land to agriculture. It was a shock to my system to see land that had been so altered by humans.
Leaving home helped me realize how special NM is. Thus, I tried to find something to do back home in New Mexico every summer. I was able to participate in many diverse programs, all connected by interest in the environment. One year, I worked at Los Alamos National Labs, interning in the sustainability department. A different year, I did sustainability policy with Environment New Mexico, helping start their anti-fracking campaign and leading the development and incorporation of Santa Fe’s first solar power resolution. The most influential summer was a research experience at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, where I spent the summer exploring the refuge and studying the diversity of life in desert springs. After graduating from college, I eventually moved back permanently to NM as I work towards my PhD at the University of NM. I am back at the Sevilleta, using their Long Term Ecological Research program to study how extreme drought impacts ecosystems, and research ways to foster community resiliency using soil microbes.
I think for me, being able to connect with my research in a way that gives back to my community (and I envision a lot of New Mexico as my community) is meaningful to me. I find hope for our future in my work, ensuring that our ecosystems will be there for future generations to connect with. This drives me. Science is great, but it takes a while. You have to have patience to see change. I think it's easy to get sucked into a kind of doom-scrolling about everything, but there are lots of pockets of hope and stories of recovery, and I want to be involved in that.
As Cassandra and others like her have shown, resiliency comes through weathering change, learning to adapt, and looking for new ways to move forward. Resilient communities and ecosystems come through the patient and hopeful work of individuals, organizations, and groups willing to find ways to change together. We are honored to have Cassandra participate in this 2025 task force initiative.