This project is using artificial intelligence (AI) to better understand how metals are used by cyanobacteria, the most abundant group of organisms to have ever existed in Earth history. Metals are essential for life and are held tightly by proteins inside of cyanobacterial cells. AlphaFold is a powerful AI tool that can predict the shapes of these proteins and how they hold onto metals. So far, these predictions have not yet been tested with laboratory experiments. In this study, college students are growing cyanobacteria in the laboratory and using advanced X-ray techniques to see how metals are bound inside the cells. By comparing the AI predictions with real data, the team hopes to better understand how metals move through environments when these cells die and break apart. This knowledge will provide a better picture of how dissolved metals are recycled in aquatic ecosystems. The project also includes outreach to schools and communities, including science activities for children, story-writing contests, and support for college students to get involved in science. The laboratory studies focus on resolving the chemical speciation of Zn and Fe in cyanobacteria. Experiments are performed by the researchers to assess whether AI-predicted metal-ligand binding environments reflect the actual speciation of Zn and Fe in living cells. Marine and freshwater cyanobacteria are being cultured under metal-controlled conditions, and proteins expressed under different growth phases are