When I received an email earlier this summer from the Desert Research Institute (DRI) seeking volunteers for a pilot research project studying the effects of heat and wildfire smoke on Washoe County residents, I immediately emailed back. I wasn’t sure if I was someone DRI would want to study, but I was hopeful. 

Scientists Kristin VanderMolen and Yeongkwon Son are looking to learn how heat and smoke affect people’s health. Both issues have been studied individually, VanderMolen told me, but little research has been done examining how they affect people when both are present.

The chance to be part of the pilot study is interesting because I often report on extreme heat and wildfire smoke —  Las Vegas and Reno are among the fastest-warming cities in the nation, and Reno often spends part of the summer and fall blanketed under a cloud of wildfire smoke. And, as a Washoe County resident, when it’s hot and smoky, I feel the effects. Being part of the study would hopefully shine a light on these issues from a different perspective. (Disclaimer: Other study participants are receiving financial compensation. I am not receiving any money from the institute.)

So I was excited when I found myself sitting at my kitchen table with two scientists and a graduate student one very warm August afternoon. They questioned me about my tolerance for smoke and heat, as well as my nearly nonexistent air conditioner use. They assessed my heart and lung function and installed an air sensor in the living room that will measure everything from relative humidity to PM2.5 and PM10 — invisible particles brought on by everything from wildfire smoke to someone burning dinner in the kitchen. 

“People tend to think of air quality as something that happens outside, not what’s in the house,” VanderMolen told me when we first met. There’s an awareness that outside air quality can impact air quality inside, she said, but people are often surprised to learn how everyday actions, such as cooking or lighting a candle or incense, can affect indoor air quality. 

Over the next year, the team will visit me a half dozen or so times to check my heart and lungs. They will also take regular readings from the air sensor in my living room. While I won’t share data gathered from anyone else — that information is confidential to the researchers — I will report back what the team finds in my house. With the windows open in all but the coldest months and the AC rarely turned on, I imagine the findings in my house will mirror air quality outside (with the addition of some charred dinners.) 

This pilot study is the second administered by the team as they fine tune their testing methods and approaches, informing research questions and setting them up to pursue a larger study, VanderMolen said. 

The results of the pilot study will be shared with Northern Nevada Public Health, their project partner, and could ultimately help inform the health department’s decision-making. 

The pilot study also coincides with legislation at the state and federal level looking to address the issues of heat and smoke. 

During the most recent legislative session, lawmakers passed SB260, a bill ordering the drafting of regulations to protect outdoor workers when air quality is poor due to wildfire smoke, and AB96, requiring Washoe and Clark counties to create formal heat plans. At the federal level, Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) is co-sponsoring legislation that would designate extreme heat as a major disaster, allowing communities to receive federal aid during heat-related emergencies. 

As lawmakers start to address this growing issue, it’s studies like VanderMolen and Son’s that will inform policymakers.

“We know that both extreme heat and wildfire smoke exposure come with health risks, and we’re hoping to gain clarity on how these overlapping events can exacerbate the toll on the human body,” VanderMolen said.

---

In the weeds:

Walker Lake win — In ongoing efforts to restore dwindling Walker Lake in central Nevada, the Walker Basin Conservancy has acquired and will permanently protect 1,200 acre-feet of water in the Walker River watershed.

The conservancy acquired the decreed storage water from Poore Lake, California, in the headwaters of the Walker River, marking its first water acquisition for the lake from over the border. While about 75 percent of land from the Walker River Basin falls in Nevada, nearly all its water arrives as snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada mountains in California. 

The conservancy has now acquired 59 percent of the estimated 50,000 acre-feet of water needed to restore Walker Lake.

Tahoe paid parking — A 250-space paid parking area at Lake Tahoe’s Spooner Summit has been approved by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Governing Board. The project, referred to as the Spooner Summit Mobility Hub, will also include the first permanent watercraft inspection station in the Tahoe Basin and electric vehicle charging stations.

Located near the junction of U.S. Highway 50 and State Route 28 at Spooner Summit, the lot will replace roadside parking. In 2024, an estimated 1,000 vehicles per day parked along the shoulder of SR28 between Incline Village and Spooner Summit. 

It will open in fall of 2027. 

Energy assistance opp — The Nevada Clean Energy Fund, Washoe County and the City of Reno are launching a new clean energy partnership that will provide building owners subsidized energy audits and free technical assistance on clean energy upgrades. Applications are first come, first served through Jan. 15, 2026.

Hiking among fossils — A 3-mile crushed granite trail being built at Southern Nevada’s Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument (TUSK) will be Americans with Disabilities Act accessible and feature bilingual signage and exhibits. The Tufa Trail will be the first permanent trail in the park and is expected to open in 2027. 

A win for insects — A federal judge in Oregon last month confirmed the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture that oversees and funds the application of pesticides on Western rangelands, has a legal duty to consider preventative measures rather than a spray-first approach across millions of acres in Western states, including Nevada.

The court’s ruling also require the inspection service to be more open with the public about where, when and why it is spraying. In 2024, the court ruled that the service violated the law by focusing only on spraying pesticides to suppress grasshoppers and Mormon crickets under the program.

---

Here’s what else I’m reading (and listening to) this week: 

Las Vegas’ growing mosquito problem, from NBC News 

From The Nevada Current, Nevada would lose millions under Trump’s proposed budget cuts to EPA, report finds

KUNR explains more about the U.S. Department of Interior’s move to repeal the Biden-era public lands rule

Southwest Gas privately asked for veto of utility disconnections reporting bill, Energy Policy & Institute reports

NV Energy seeks federal approval to give wind, solar developers free exit from interconnection queue, from Utility Dive 

Grist explains why the federal government is making climate data disappear 

More from Grist: How ‘drill, baby, drill’ has morphed into layoffs and reduced spending in the oil industry

More Than Just Parks explains what repealing the Roadless Rule could mean for our forests 

U.S. utilities seek record rate increases, from Latitude Media 

---