BOOTHBAY HARBOR —

Bigelow Laboratory’s final Café Scientifique of the summer season will feature a discussion by geomicrobiologist Joyce McBeth titled “Rock- Eaters — Exploring the Lives of Bacteria that Eat and Breathe Metals and Minerals,” on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Boothbay Harbor Opera House, 86 Townsend Ave.

According to a news release, McBeth is a postdoctoral researcher in the Geomicrobiology Research Laboratory at the new Bigelow Ocean Science and Education Campus. She 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.

An important part of her research has been to explore how a new class of microbes – the Zetaproteobacteria – are involved in rusting of steel. Zetaproteobacteria are marine iron-eating bacteria that are found both at hydrothermal vents in the deep-sea and in near shore and estuarine sediments.

McBeth holds a Ph.D. in Earth Sciences from the University of Manchester, U.K.; a Master of Science degree in Geological Sciences from the University of Missouri- Columbia, and a B.Sc. in Geological Sciences from the University of British Columbia. Her work at Bigelow Laboratory has been funded by the U. S. Office of Naval Research. She will be continuing her research in a new position at the Canadian Light Source in Canada this September.

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.

For more information, visit www.bigelow.org.