The Wilkins lab was involved in a just-published study tracking microbial populations and metabolisms in hydraulically fractured shales. The work – published yesterday in Nature Microbiology – identified dominant microbial populations that catalyze the conversion of methylamines into methane. While the detection of viable biomass in deep fractured shales may be problematic for the oil and gas industry, the potential for new biogenic methane to be generated could offer a potential mechanism for increasing the longevity of such wells.

While some Wilkins lab members were living it up in Montreal at ISME16, Casey Saup and Mike Wilkins traveled to Crested Butte, Colorado to install redox probes and collect samples at the East River. This is a Department of Energy funded project that is associated with the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab Science Focus Area at the same location. As the pictures below show, the field site is in a spectacular location…

Paula Dalcin Martins, Bob Danczak, and Anne Booker all presented posters at the ISME16 meeting in Montreal in August. Apparently a good time was had by all….