#8 Warix (with ball) about to make a goal.
Warix has been fascinated by our dependence on water from an early age. An avid swimmer born and raised in Sacramento, it was commonplace for wildfire smoke to cancel her practices. This irony fascinated her: to jump into a large pool of water and be forced to get out due to a lack of water to fight those fires. This dynamic captured her curiosity and established the watery track of her education moving forward. She did her undergrad at the University of Pacific, continued her education at Idaho State, and culminated in a PhD in Hydrologic Science and Engineering from the Colorado School of Mines. The flow of this journey has now led to a Department of Geology & Geophysics faculty position here at the University of Utah.
Drawn to the dynamic relationship our region has with water dependency (as well as the bike trails and ski slopes!), Warix's field of research focuses on understanding headwater streams. Headwater streams are supported by upwelling groundwater before they flow into larger rivers that source downstream water supply. When asked as to their importance, Warix explains, “As the quantity and quality of water in headwater streams change, they carry those effects into the downgradient streams. Upstream changes in water quality are going to be mirrored in the downstream water quality.” An example given is that headwater stream drying frequency is expected to increase as climate alters precipitation patterns and increases temperature warming. As more headwater streams dry, there are going to be impacts on the downstream water resources that they feed into, but the severity of drying on downstream water resources is unknown.
Warix, right, collecting water samples from a tributary to the Upper Snake River, June 2024. Credit: Wyoming Public Radio
Such studies are critical, as the impacts of climate change on stream chemistry are difficult to capture in climate change models. Climate change impacts on stream and groundwater chemistry are convoluted, hidden in the subsurface and vary regionally. More pressingly, the lack of understanding of these impacts has led to a dearth of policy protections regarding drying streams. As such there is a ticking timer to deepen this understanding and to motivate a better protection of these systems. Many faculty at the U are currently working on this topic and Warix, as assistant professor, now joins them in their pursuits.
In addition to research, Warix will also begin teaching next semester, and in both roles she brings a uniquely valuable perspective. Co-mentored by Alexis Navarre-Sitchler and Kamini Singha, a geochemist and geophysicist respectively, Warix had to learn how to view and explain her research through multiple scientific lenses and to meet one mentor on their level while also learning how to “translate” their expertise to the other. Such experience with scientific communication is vital and will surely assist in explaining these concepts to students in kind.
Whether teaching, playing, or dominating the U’s water polo team in 2022, Warix’s life has always been connected to water. In a way, this is the headwater stream of her teaching career. With the skills she’s brought to the surface, she’ll surely carry those skills downstream to the students that need them.