Beale first met the American biologist Tracy Sonneborn in 1947 at a summer symposium at Cold Spring Harbor, where Beale was working at the time. Sonneborn invited Beale to join his group at Indiana University, Bloomington, to work on the protozoan group Paramecium. Beale remained in Bloomington for nine months from October 1947, and would pay many subsequent visits, enjoying the congenial atmosphere and Sonneborn's company. Beale's work on Paramecium genetics would continue for many years throughout his career, as would his correspondence with Sonneborn. When Sonneborn died in 1981, Beale wrote his biographical memoir for the Royal Society.