On Tuesday, Aug. 28, Bigelow Laboratory’s final Café Scientifique of the summer season will feature a discussion titled “Rock-Eaters – Exploring the Lives of Bacteria that Eat and Breathe Metals and Minerals” by geomicrobiologist Dr. Joyce McBeth.

The talk will be at the Boothbay Harbor Opera House at 86 Townsend Ave. in Boothbay Harbor at 6 p.m.

McBeth will describe her research about the role that bacteria play in the planet’s geochemical cycles, and the use of genetic sequencing technology to examine the role of bacteria in steel corrosion as a postdoctoral researcher in the Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory at the new Bigelow Ocean Science and Education Campus. An important part of her research has been to explore how a new class of microbes – the zetaproteobacteria – are involved in rusting of steel. The zetaproteobacteria are marine iron-eating bacteria that are found both at hydrothermal vents in the deep sea and in near-shore and estuarine sediments.

“Corrosion is a very expensive problem globally, and bacteria are often important players in rusting of steel in the ocean,” McBeth said. “We have been working to understand what bacteria are involved and also how they influence marine steel corrosion, both individually and as a community.”

The Laboratory’s Café Scientifique gatherings are informal discussions about scientific issues and society, current research, and the latest news from the field. They are free and open to the public, with beer, wine and sodas available for purchase.