The goal of this research is to systematically apply spectroscopic techniques to characterize the biomolecules than comprise the walls of a wide array of modern and fossilized organic-walled resting stages produced by microscopic, aquatic organisms. The goal is: (1) explore and understand their macromolecular variability, and (2) unravel their taphonomy (i.e., how these molecules change upon burial and diagenesis).