World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
48
Citations
8527
World Ranking
5545
National Ranking
2028

Overview

Thomas L. Kieft is affiliated with the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in the United States. Their research spans key areas within Environmental Science and Earth and Planetary Sciences, focusing on a variety of subfields and topics that interact across disciplines.

The main fields of study covered by their work include:

  • Environmental Science
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences

Within these fields, Kieft has contributed to multiple subfields such as:

  • Ecology
  • Astronomy and Astrophysics
  • Molecular Biology
  • Environmental Chemistry
  • Earth-Surface Processes

Their research topics encompass a broad range of scientific interests, including:

  • Methane Hydrates and Related Phenomena
  • Microbial Community Ecology and Physiology
  • Planetary Science and Exploration
  • Building materials and conservation
  • Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
  • Bacteriophages and microbial interactions
  • Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies

Kieft has published extensively, with notable papers such as:

  • "Mars Extant Life: What's Next? Conference Report" (2020) published in Astrobiology
  • "The role of low-temperature 18O exchange in the isotopic evolution of deep subsurface fluids" (2020) published in Chemical Geology
  • "Lighting Effects on the Development and Diversity of Photosynthetic Biofilm Communities in Carlsbad Cavern, New Mexico" (2021) published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology
  • "86Kr excess and other noble gases identify a billion-year-old radiogenically-enriched groundwater system" (2022) published in Nature Communications
  • "Abiotic and biotic processes that drive carboxylation and decarboxylation reactions" (2020) published in American Mineralogist

The frequent venues where Kieft's work appears include:

  • Astrobiology
  • Nature Communications
  • Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta
  • Microbial Ecology
  • Abstracts with programs - Geological Society of America

Among their frequent coauthors are:

  • T. C. Onstott
  • Devan M. Nisson
  • Barbara Sherwood Lollar
  • Oliver Warr
  • Daniel S. Jones

This network of collaborators reflects Kieft's involvement in interdisciplinary investigations relating to subsurface microbiology, isotopic geochemistry, and planetary exploration, demonstrating a sustained engagement with both microbial ecology and geochemical processes on Earth and beyond.

Best Publications

  • Microbial biomass response to a rapid increase in water potential when dry soil is wetted

    Thomas L. Kieft;Edith soroker;Mary K. firestone

  • The biomass and biodiversity of the continental subsurface

    C. Magnabosco;L.-H. Lin;H. Dong;M. Bomberg

  • Changes in Ester-Linked Phospholipid Fatty Acid Profiles of Subsurface Bacteria during Starvation and Desiccation in a Porous Medium

    T. L. Kieft;D. B. Ringelberg;D. C. White

  • A new analysis of Mars "Special Regions": findings of the second MEPAG Special Regions Science Analysis Group (SR-SAG2)

    John D. Rummel;David W. Beaty;Melissa A. Jones;Corien Bakermans

  • Dissimilatory Reduction of Fe(III) and Other Electron Acceptors by a Thermus Isolate

    T. L. Kieft;J. K. Fredrickson;Tullis C. Onstott;Y. A. Gorby

  • TEMPORAL DYNAMICS IN SOIL CARBON AND NITROGEN RESOURCES AT A GRASSLAND–SHRUBLAND ECOTONE

    Thomas L. Kieft;Carleton S. White;Samuel R. Loftin;Richard Aguilar

  • Survival and phospholipid Fatty Acid profiles of surface and subsurface bacteria in natural sediment microcosms.

    T L Kieft;E Wilch;K O'connor;D B Ringelberg

  • Rapid detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7 by immunomagnetic separation and real-time PCR.

    Zhu Fu;Snezna Rogelj;Thomas L. Kieft

  • An oligotrophic deep-subsurface community dependent on syntrophy is dominated by sulfur-driven autotrophic denitrifiers

    Maggie C. Y. Lau;Thomas L. Kieft;Olukayode Kuloyo;Borja Linage-Alvarez

  • Influence of the Gas-Water Interface on Transport of Microorganisms through Unsaturated Porous Media

    Jiamin Wan;John L. Wilson;Thomas L. Kieft

  • Ice nucleation activity in lichens.

    Thomas L. Kieft

  • Microbiology of vadose zone paleosols in south-central Washington State.

    Fred J. Brockman;Thomas L. Kieft;James K. Fredrickson;Bruce N. Bjornstad

  • Subsurface Microbial Diversity in Deep-Granitic-Fracture Water in Colorado

    Jason W. Sahl;Raleigh Schmidt;Elizabeth D. Swanner;Kevin W. Mandernack

  • The Distribution of Microbial Taxa in the Subsurface Water of the Kalahari Shield, South Africa

    T. M. Gihring;D. P. Moser;L. H. Lin;M. Davidson

  • Microbial abundance and activities in relation to water potential in the vadose zones of arid and semiarid sites.

    Thomas L. Kieft;Penny S. Amy;Fred J. Brockman;James K. Fredrickson

  • A metagenomic window into carbon metabolism at 3 km depth in Precambrian continental crust.

    Cara Magnabosco;Kathleen Ryan;Maggie C Y Lau;Olukayode Kuloyo

  • Indigenous and contaminant microbes in ultradeep mines.

    T. C. Onstott;Duane P. Moser;Susan M. Pfiffner;Jim K. Fredrickson

  • Observations Pertaining to the Origin and Ecology of Microorganisms Recovered from the Deep Subsurface of Taylorsville Basin, Virginia

    T C. Onstott;Tommy J. Phelps;F S. Colwell;D B. Ringelberg

  • The Origin and Age of Biogeochemical Trends in Deep Fracture Water of the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa

    T. C. Onstott;L.-H. Lin;M. Davidson;B. Mislowack

  • Characterization of biological ice nuclei from a lichen.

    T L Kieft;T Ruscetti

  • Findings of the Mars Special Regions Science Analysis Group

    K. Buxbaum;M. Meyer;N. Barlow

Frequent Co-Authors

Tullis C. Onstott
Tullis C. Onstott Princeton University
Barbara Sherwood Lollar
Barbara Sherwood Lollar University of Toronto
James K. Fredrickson
James K. Fredrickson Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
David C. White
David C. White University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Susan M. Pfiffner
Susan M. Pfiffner University of Tennessee at Knoxville
Tommy J. Phelps
Tommy J. Phelps Oak Ridge National Laboratory
David L. Balkwill
David L. Balkwill Florida State University
James P. McKinley
James P. McKinley Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Philip E. Long
Philip E. Long Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Fred M. Phillips
Fred M. Phillips New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology

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