Description: Highlights • The adsorption of Cd to Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 was investigated at both marine and freshwater ionic strength. • The thermodynamic binding constants of Cd to Synechocystis were calculated using a surface complexation modeling approach. • Synechocystis and other planktonic cyanobacteria may be an important vector of trace metals transport to marine settings. Cyanobacteria are abundant in nearly every surface environment on Earth. Understanding their chemical reactivity and metal binding capacity with varying ionic strength (IS) is paramount to understanding trace metal cycling in natural environments. We conducted an investigation on the cell surface reactivity of the freshwater cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 at freshwater (0.01 M NaCl) and marine (0.56 M NaCl) IS. Potentiometric titration data were used to develop a multiple discrete site, non-electrostatic surface complexation model (SCM), and corresponding cell surface functional group identities were verified using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Synechocystis cells were best modeled in FITEQL 4.0 using a non-electrostatic 2-site protonation model. Cadmium (Cd) adsorption experiments paired with SCM was utilized to calculate the binding constants of Cd. Synechocystis surface functional groups demonstrated a stronger affinity for Cd across the entire pH range studied (3–9) at freshwater IS, with the greatest difference at circumneutral pH (6–8) where Cd adsorption in freshwater IS was 60% greater than at marine IS. These data combined with the ubiquitous distribution of Synechocystis in freshwater and brackish environments suggest that these organisms could play an important role in trace metal cycling in environments with large salinity gradients, such as estuaries and deltas, and could act as a transport mechanism for trace metals from terrestrial to marine settings.