My research program focuses on “secondary metabolites”, or small molecules produced by microbes and plants and their influence on plant and microbial growth as well as the movement of macronutrients, trace metals, and gases. My goal in taking this small-molecule centric approach is to gain a fresh perspective on microbial nutrient cycling and a mechanistic understanding of processes crucial to the Earth system and human prosperity. Secondary metabolites are commonly viewed as antibiotics that are important in medicine but not in the environment. However, their ubiquitous production in natural systems and highly relevant chemistries (redox, metal binding) make them tractable experimental tools for investigating complex, otherwise hard to study ecosystems like soils. We use small molecules as an entry point to explore the ways life shapes and is shaped by the environment; an effort we hope will increase our ability to predict and manage these interactions in diverse contexts.