EAST BOOTHBAY — Bigelow Laboratory will host two separate Café Scientifique events this week.

At 6 p.m. today in the Boothbay Harbor Opera House, 86 Townsend Ave., Dr. Willie Wilson, director of the laboratory’s National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota (NCMA), will lead a discussion titled “Marine Algae — the Planet’s Second Lung.” Wilson will discuss the key role that marine algae play in the global processes that sustain life, and describe NCMA’s role in advancing algal research throughout the world.

“Besides providing half of the oxygen we breathe on this planet, many species of microscopic single-celled marine plants contain large amounts of natural oils, and could hold the key to a significant, domestic, carbon-neutral source of renewable energy,” Wilson said in a Bigelow Laboratory release.

A marine virologist, Wilson has been a senior research scientist at Bigelow Laboratory since 2007. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom.

Research center design

At 6 p.m. Thursday, Bigelow Laboratory invites the public to a special Café Scientifique gathering in the Commons of the new Bigelow Ocean Science and Education Campus at 60 Bigelow Drive in East Boothbay to hear architect and laboratory planner Gary Shaw talk about “Stone, Soffits, and Scientists — Building a Sustainable Research Campus and Community on the Coast of Maine.”

Shaw is one of the lead architects on the design and engineering team developing the laboratory’s state-of-theart science facilities on its 64- acre shorefront property in East Boothbay. Two of the science wings of the new building are completed and occupied; the third will be ready in mid-November.

Shaw has led the planning and implementation of more than 5 million square feet of research facilities, including new buildings and renovation projects for academic and biopharmaceutical clients, the release states.

“My professional goal is to effectively plan innovative research environments that inspire scientists while giving them uniquely effective facilities that enable every aspect of the discovery process,” he said in the release. “In working with the Bigelow scientists, I realized that I’d never encountered a community of individuals quite so dedicated to the crucial work of unraveling the secrets of our oceans and how they interact with our atmosphere and the shore.”

Shaw is an active member of the Association of Independent Research Institutes and participates in the Biotechnology Council; the Association of University Research Parks; and a variety of academic forums, both in the greater Boston area and nationally.

Café Scientifique gatherings are informal, free and open to the public, with beer, wine and sodas available for purchase. The complete 2012 summer Café Scientifique program is available at www.bigelow.org.