Special Events

In addition to our Café Sci series and annual open house, Bigelow Laboratory regularly engages the public with its latest discoveries through events and series in the region. It’s vital to our mission that we share what we’re learning, and we hope to see you at an event soon!

Save the Date - Bigelow's Big Splash 2025

Help us kick off the next 50 years of bold science for our blue planet with this celebratory fundraiser in our new center for ocean education and innovation!

Come celebrate with us, festivities will include dinner, dancing, a live auction, and a program featuring award winning, film director & producer, veteran photojournalist (and member of our Advisory Board) Brian Skerry.

If you are interested in learning more about becoming a sponsor for this event, please contact Michael Vilarello at mvilarello@bigelow.org or 207-315-2567 x126. You can also view our sponsorship materials here and make your commitment online.

NOVA Screening at the New England Aquarium

Special presentation of “NOVA - Sea Change: The Gulf of Maine,” including a Q&A featuring David Fields.

This three-part NOVA documentary explores the bountiful Gulf of Maine — and the people working to understand and protect this critical ecosystem. This illuminating and imperative documentary features several of our researchers. If you haven’t seen the series already, or want to dive deeper, you can catch a special screening at the New England Aquarium in Boston from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. on September 10.

A Q&A session will follow, with a panel of contributors including Senior Research Scientist David Fields, who is featured in the first episode, and Brian Skerry, an acclaimed photographer who is one of the series' producers and also a member of Bigelow Laboratory's advisory board.

To read more about how our work was featured, check out our recent story: https://www.bigelow.org/news/articles/2024-08-12.html

NOTE: The screening at NEAQ is sold out for in-person attendance, but you can be added to the waitlist and register to watch online here.

Ocean On Tap - Monthly Talks

An informal, volunteer-led speaker series

Ocean on Tap is a social, informal speaker series organized by researchers from Bigelow Laboratory and hosted by Footbridge Brewery in Boothbay Harbor. The goal of the series is to bring our local community together over the fascinating world of the ocean.

The events feature speakers from various disciplines, each sharing their unique expertise and answering questions from the audience. Previous talks have included a wide range of topics — from parasites that eat the tongues of clownfish to the diverse array of gadgets scientists use to conduct research underwater!

To get a sense of what the talks are like, check out this article , which covers the origin of the series and the topics covered.

Each Ocean on Tap is announced about a month in advance. You can learn more and keep on top of the latest by following Ocean on Tap’s social accounts on Instagram (@oceanontap) and Facebook (Ocean on Tap). We also share them through Bigelow Laboratory’s accounts on Facebook, Instagram, X, and LinkedIn.

You can also join the mailing by adding your email to this form, or by emailing oceanontap@gmail.com.