Overview
Our research examines the biogeochemistry and hydrogeology of aqueous systems, with emphasis on the subsurface. Recent and ongoing projects in the group fall primarily into two categories:

Environmental quality
  • Spatial and temporal variation in biogeochemistry of the High Plains aquifer system
  • pH and electron donor flux as controls on competition between aquifer microbes
  • CO2 transport and fate in soils and the vadose zone at Konza Prairie
  • Sulfate amendment as a strategy for remediating arsenic contamination in groundwater
  • Biogeochemical response of aquifers to CO2 leakage from geological carbon storage reservoirs
  • Seasonal variation in water chemistry across the urban-rural interface of Wildcat creek

Energy
  • Geochemical controls on microbial methane formation in coal-bearing strata of the Cherokee Basin
  • Strategies to stimulate methanogenesis from crude oil and coal

Research approach and facility
We conduct both field and laboratory studies. In both cases, our research approach is to combine chemical analyses of water, gas, and solids with geochemical modeling calculations and analyses that directly examine microbial community composition. Students in the group, therefore, can gain experience with a broad range of techniques.

Our laboratory contains equipment needed for a variety of geochemical and microbiological tasks. It contains a dual-column gas chromatograph for analyzing gas composition (Gow Mac), an ion chromatography system capable of analyzing both cations and anions (Dionex), a UV Vis spectophotometer, an anaerobic chamber, a custom gas manifold for mixing gases and making anaerobic media, equipment needed for DNA extraction, and a fluorescence microscope for visualizing cells. Field equipment available in the laboratory includes a submersible pump for sampling groundwater and hand held pH, temperature, conductivity meters. More information about facilities available in the Department of Geology and on the K-State campus is available here.

Current and recent funding
  • Seeding growth of a critical zone observatory for water research in Kansas. Kansas State University Water Seed Program (2016-2017) 
  • Experimental and numerical modeling analysis of carbon dioxide as a control on microbial activity in anoxic environments. Kansas NSF EPSCoR First Awards in Climate or Energy Research program (6/2014 - 8/2015)
  • Field study of fundamental controls on methane formation in a coalbed methane reservoir. American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund (8/2013 - 8/2017)
  • Field trip to Costa Rica for educational and research activities. K-State International Incentives program (2013 - 2014)
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Bacteria (green) growing in a porous medium column reactor experiment.
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Sampling water and natural gas from a commercial gas well in Michigan.
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Bioreactor experiments containing iron- and sulfate-reducing bacteria.
Peer-reviewed publications organized by research area
Additional details and links are available via Google Scholar.

Aquifer and stream biogeochemistry
  • Blake, JM, DeVore, CL, Avasarala, S, Ali, AM, Roldan, C, Bowers, F, Spilde, MN, Artyushkova, K, Kirk, MF, Peterson, E, Rodriguez-Freire, L, Cerrato, JM (accepted) Uranium mobility and accumulation along the Rio Paguate, Jackpile Mine in Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts
  • Jin, Q, Kirk, MF (2016) Thermodynamic and kinetic response of microbial reactions to high CO2. Frontiers in Microbiology. Full text copy
  • Kirk, MF, Jin, Q, Haller, BR (2015) Broad-scale evidence that pH influences the balance between microbial iron and sulfate reduction. Groundwater. DOI: 10.1111/gwat.12364. Get a full text copy from KREx
  • Maguffin, SC, Kirk, MF, Daigle, AR, Hinkle, SR, Jin, Q (2015) Substantial contribution of biomethylation to aquifer arsenic cycling. Nature Geoscience. DOI: 10.1038/NGEO2383.
  • ​Kirk, MF, Santillan, EFU, Sanford, RA, Altman, SJ (2013) CO2-induced shift in microbial activity affects carbon trapping and water quality in anoxic bioreactors. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 122, 198-208. Get a full text copy from KREx.
  • Bethke, CM, Sanford, RA, Kirk, MF, Jin, Q, Flynn, TM (2011) The thermodynamic ladder in geomicrobiology. American Journal of Science 311, 183-210.
  • Kirk, MF, Roden, EE, Crossey, LJ, Brearley, AJ, Spilde, MN (2010) Experimental analysis of arsenic precipitation during microbial iron and sulfate reduction in model aquifer sediment reactors. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 74, 2538-2555.
  • Kirk, MF, Crossey, LJ, Takacs-Vesbach, C, Newell, DL, Bowman, RS (2009) Influence of saline groundwater upwelling on iron and manganese cycling in the Rio Grande floodplain aquifer. Applied Geochemistry 24, 426-437.
  • Kwon, MJ, Sanford, RA, Park, J, Kirk, MF, Bethke, CM (2008) Microbiological response to well pumping. Ground Water 46, 286-294.
  • Kirk, MF, Holm, TH, Park, J, Jin, Q, Sanford, RA, Fouke, BW, Bethke, CM (2004) Bacterial sulfate reduction limits natural arsenic contamination in groundwater. Geology 32, 953-956. [Editor’s Choice, Science 306, 1651]

Bioclogging
  • Deng, W, Cardenas, MB, Kirk, MF, Altman, SJ, Bennett, PC (2013) The effect of permeable biofilm on micro- and macro-scale flow and transport in bioclogged pores. Environmental Science and Technology 47, 11092-11098.
  • Kirk, MF, Santillan, EFU, McGrath, LK, Altman, SJ (2012) Variation in hydraulic conductivity with pH in a biologically-clogged porous medium. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 11, 133-140.

Geological carbon storage
  • Jin, Q, Kirk, MF (2016) Thermodynamic and kinetic response of microbial reactions to high CO2. Frontiers in Microbiology. Full text copy
  • Kirk, MF, Altman, SJ, Santillan, EFU, Bennett, PC (2016) Interplay between microorganisms and geochemistry in geological carbon storage. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control 47, 386-395.
  • Kirk, MF, Santillan, EFU, Sanford, RA, Altman, SJ (2013) CO2-induced shift in microbial activity affects carbon trapping and water quality in anoxic bioreactors. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 122, 198-208. Get a full text copy from KREx.
  • Santillan, EFU, Kirk, MF, Altman, SJ, Bennett, PC (2013) Mineral influence on microbial survival during carbon sequestration. Geomicrobiology Journal 30, 578-592.
  • Kirk, MF (2011) Variation in energy available to populations of subsurface anaerobes in response to geological carbon storage. Environmental Science and Technology 45, 6676-6682.

Natural gas
  • Kirk, MF, Wilson, BH, Marquart, KA, Zeglin, LH, Vinson, DS, Flynn, TM (2015) Solute concentrations influence microbial methanogenesis in coal-bearing strata of the Cherokee basin, USA. Frontiers in Microbiology. DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01287. Full text copy
  • Kirk, MF, Martini, AM, Breecker, DO, Colman, DR, Takacs-Vesbach, C, Petsch, ST (2012) Impact of commercial natural gas production on geochemistry and microbiology in a shale-gas reservoir. Chemical Geology 332-333, 15-25. Get a full text copy from KREx.
  • ​Schlegel, ME, McIntosh, JC, Bates, BL, Kirk, MF, Martini, AM (2011) Comparison of fluid geochemistry and microbiology of multiple organic-rich reservoirs in the Illinois basin, USA: evidence for controls on methanogenesis and microbial transport. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 75, 1903-1919.​