Bigelow Laboratory’s Café Sci program kicks off July 22

Bigelow Laboratory's Café Sci program kicks off July 22

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences will soon welcome back community members and ocean enthusiasts for its annual Café Sci series of free science talks. Presentations will take place at 5 p.m. on Wednesdays from July 22 through Aug. 12.

Café Sci is a fun, free way to engage with ocean researchers on critical issues and groundbreaking science. Those interested can learn more and register at https://www.bigelow.org/cafesci. Guests can join virtually or in person in the Burgess Forum at Bigelow Laboratory in East Boothbay, Maine. Before the talks on July 29, Aug. 5, and Aug. 12, the lab will be open beforehand for a public tour. Email [email protected] for more information.

The 2026 series, sponsored by HM Payson, will take attendees on a tour of some of the more remote and underexplored parts of the marine environment. Talks cover research that spans the water column and the global ocean, highlighting the power of international collaboration and fundamental discovery for protecting the ocean and unlocking its full potential.

The tour kicks off on July 22 with a stop at the frigid Southern Ocean. In "Ice and Iron: How Antarctic Trace Metals Shape the Global Climate," Senior Research Scientist Ben Twining will discuss a recent expedition to Antarctica to understand the sources and movement of "trace" metals, like iron, in the rich waters of the Southern Ocean. These nutrients are essential ingredients for life, and Twining's work is helping reveal how they shape ocean productivity and help regulate the global climate.

On July 29, Research Scientist Melody Lindsay will transport attendees to new depths, traversing from the pungent mudflats of nearby Edgecomb Eddy to the Earth's dynamic mid-Atlantic Ridge beneath Iceland, in "Below the Seafloor: How Microbes Survive and Thrive in Extreme Environments." Lindsay will show how research linking the genetic potential and activity of single cells in low-oxygen environments is uncovering novel ecological roles and creative evolutionary adaptations in the microbial world.

Talks continue on Aug. 5 with a journey to one of the ocean's most enigmatic regions: the midwater, the planet's largest and least explored habitable ecosystem. Senior Research Scientist John Burns recently returned from an expedition in the South Atlantic where they discovered 31 new species. In "New Era of Discovery: How Technology is Revealing the Fragile Animals of the Deep," Burns will showcase some of the advanced imaging and robotic technology that helped make this breakthrough possible.

The series concludes on Aug. 12 a bit closer to home - and to the surface. In "Resilient Reefs: How Algae-Grazing Fish Maintain Balance in Coral Ecosystems," Senior Research Scientist Doug Rasher and Postdoctoral Scientist Sara Swaminathan will discuss fieldwork on the sunny reefs of the Caribbean. There, tropical herbivores, like parrotfish, help keep harmful seaweeds in check, which the team is finding critical for supporting the health and resilience of coral reefs after bleaching events and storms.

Space is limited, and free registration is required at www.bigelow.org/cafesci. Talks will be recorded and shared shortly after through Bigelow Laboratory's newsletter and YouTube channel.