Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences is hosting the next lecture of the 2016 Café Scientifique series on Tuesday, July 26, from 6 to 7 p.m. The lecture, which will be held at Bigelow Laboratory, will be presented by Dr. Ben Twining and will explore the question, “What does melting Arctic ice mean for phytoplankton?”

Dr. Twining is the vice president for Research and Education and a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory. He studies the chemical interactions between planktonic organisms and trace metals in aquatic environments. Plankton largely determine the flow of carbon through the global ocean and are the base of most marine food webs. In Arctic environments, reductions in ice area and thickness caused by climate change will alter the growth patterns of many species of phytoplankton. Recording the size and location of phytoplankton blooms will allow Twining and other researchers to model future changes in the populations of these organisms.

Twining’s primary research is through GEOTRACES, a program working to map the distributions of trace metals in the global ocean. He has conducted oceanographic research in the Arctic, North Atlantic, and South Pacific during his time with this program.

This event is free and open to the public. Members of the press are encouraged to attend. All 2016 Café Scientifique lectures will be held at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, located at 60 Bigelow Drive in East Boothbay. Lectures will also be live-streamed at live.bigelow.org.

Café Scientifique is an international movement designed to encourage discussion about scientific issues between scientists and the public. Each lecture in the series will relate to this year’s theme, “Changing Climate, Changing Ocean”. For more information, please contact the Laboratory at (207) 315-2567 or info@bigelow.org. Visit bigelow.org for a complete schedule of events.