Matthew Kirk

Kansas Supreme Court examines roiling water dispute between crop irrigators and Hays, Russell • Kansas Reflector TOPEKA — The Kansas Supreme Court endured a crossfire of claims and counterclaims Monday about whether an association of Edwards County irrigators can try to thwart plans by Hays and Russell to make u...

Whiskey is for fighting; water is for fighting over

kansasreflector.com/2025/12/15/k...

Embrace diversity. Unite-or be divided, robbed, ruled, killed by those who see you as prey. Embrace diversity or be destroyed.

This quote from Octavia Butler, Parable of the Sower, seems particularly relevant today.

BREAKING: ‘This hurts’: UNL eliminates 4 programs despite faculty, student pleas The University of Nebraska-Lincoln eliminates the Earth and atmospheric sciences 8-0, educational administration 7-1, statistics 7-1, textiles, merchandising and fashion design 7-1 programs.

It's over.

Despite the fact that the academic council recommended against it, despite the fact that the program brought in more tuition than it cost, and despite the fact that Nebraskans need & deserve this expertise, Earth & Atmospheric Sciences will be cut.

www.dailynebraskan.com/news/adminis...

Octavia Butler, Parable of the Talents

The most promising aspect in my opinion is the opportunity to engage the public on water. They understand its value and its a place where we can connect in a very positive way.

Thank you for promoting Karla's paper!

What the well sees when a team of students collects samples :)

Application review starts the week of Oct 13, but we'll keep accepting applications beyond that.

and the sulfur cycle:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mi...

the iron cycle:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mi...

the nitrogen cycle:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mi...

Among the resources freely available from the book are figures that are useful for teaching and research presentations such as diagrams of microbial reactions in biogeochemical cycles. Here is a diagram for the carbon cycle:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ca...

It has now been 2 years since my book, Microbiology for Earth Scientists, was published online. It has been downloaded in over a hundred countries worldwide! Very happy to see that it is being found and hopefully serving as a helpful resource! #openaccess

We're searching for a Lab Director to run the new #Kansas Water Institute water quality lab. Lots of momentum here at Kansas State University for #water research and we're putting together a pretty awesome lab. Details here - careers.k-state.edu/jobs/water-q...

Woody Encroachment Intensifies Deep Soil Drying at Daily, Seasonal, and Decadal Scales - Ecosystems The conversion of grasslands to shrublands, known as woody encroachment, has increased vegetation water use, particularly in mesic systems. However, declines in soil moisture due to woody encroachment have not been extensively explored. This study examines the impacts of woody encroachment on the depth and degree of soil drying in a mesic tallgrass prairie in Kansas, USA. We compared soil drying beneath roughleaf dogwood (Cornus drummondii) and non-encroached tallgrass prairie using half-hourly measurements of soil moisture from 2021 to 2024 (event scale), electrical resistivity in June and October of 2022 (seasonal scale), and neutron probe measurements collected monthly between 1984 and 2021(decadal scale). Across all time scales, we found increased soil drying beneath shrubs compared to grasses, particularly in deeper layers. Soil moisture declined up to 20% more at 60 cm depth beneath shrubs compared to grasses after individual storm events, whereas declines at 15 cm were similar beneath shrubs and grasses. Electrical resistivity imaging suggested double the depth and degree of seasonal soil drying beneath shrubs compared to grasses. Over nearly four decades, woody-encroached catchments experienced a greater degree of soil drying than grass-dominated catchments, especially at depths below 1 m. The intensification of soil drying, combined with larger storms in mesic grasslands, is likely to have consequences for deep carbon storage and export and for groundwater recharge in woody-encroached grasslands.

"The intensification of soil drying, combined with larger storms in mesic grasslands, is likely to have consequences for deep carbon storage and export and groundwater recharge in woody-encroached grasslands."

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Why Alaska’s salmon streams are suddenly bleeding orange Warming Arctic permafrost is unlocking toxic metals, turning Alaska’s once-clear rivers into orange, acid-laced streams. The shift, eerily similar to mine pollution but entirely natural, threatens fis...

Thawing permafrost is going to be a problem in more ways than one.
www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

Hydrology Paper of the Day @lireactivewater.bsky.social on how hydrological processes influence spatial patterns of dissolved organic carbon: numerical experiments with the catchment-scale BioRT-HBV model indicating geological and biogeochemical cycles and controls; and the power-law CQ relationship

Actually, Slavery Was Very Bad The president’s latest criticism of museums is a thinly veiled attempt to erase Black history.

a thought i have reading @clintsmithiii.bsky.social’s wonderful piece is that one reason the administration wants to erase any mention of the worst of our past is because it is intent on recapitulating those atrocities www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Kansas scientists put AI to work in the fight to save the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie Trees and shrubs are invading prairies, hurting the wildlife and making it harder to ranch. Yet it's hard to know the full extent of the problem, so Kansas State University found a way to map it out o...

Great work by Zak Ratajczak and his team who use remote sensing and AI to quantify changes in plant communities in a grassland experiencing woody encroachment

www.kcur.org/news/2025-08...

A Data‐Driven Simplified Nernst Equation for Estimating Reduction Potentials in Groundwater from pH and Temperature Reduction potentials of redox couples are fundamental for understanding subsurface geochemistry and guiding water resource exploration and management. Reduction potentials are routinely calculated wi...

A Data‐Driven Simplified Nernst Equation for Estimating Reduction Potentials in #Groundwater from pH and Temperature - Bowman - Groundwater - Wiley Online Library ngwa.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Exploring Energy Conservation in Sulphate‐Dependent Anaerobic Methane‐Oxidising Consortia Through Metabolic Modelling This study presents a metabolic model to quantify energy conservation in sulphate-dependent anaerobic methane oxidation. Results reveal that anaerobic methanotrophic archaea and sulphate-reducing bac...

Exploring Energy Conservation in Sulphate‐Dependent Anaerobic Methane‐Oxidising Consortia Through Metabolic Modelling - Bowman - 2025 - Environmental Microbiology - Wiley Online Library enviromicro-journals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Kind of like entertainment news such as Fox and CNN has been bad for news

Motherfucking wind farms…

“Staggering” Water Loss Driven by Groundwater Mining Poses Global Threat A new study finds that freshwater resources are rapidly disappearing, creating arid “mega” regions and causing sea levels to rise.

Important findings related to groundwater depletion and also some great sci art!

www.propublica.org/article/wate...

Our first black swallowtail butterfly of summer emerged this morning! Several more on the way soon.

Thank you for putting it together!

An uplifting story about the Kansas River from the Up from Dust podcast: Kayakers vs. river pollution

Groundwater raining down on the High Plains

Solar well and water tank for livestock. Old windmill in the distance.

Student recording data in front of a livestock pen

Student sampling a domestic water well

Groundwater sampling in south-central Kansas this week. Nearly half of the wells we have sampled in this part of the High Plains Aquifer have high nitrate levels.

Yes, and if not, we can count on him to do/say something else outrageous to change the conversation soon.