The oceans cover our planet and are filled with microbial life. Yet, these organisms and the complex interactions between them are mostly unexplored in comparison to what is known of organisms in terrestrial environments. The Case lab's research focuses on elucidating the nature of bacterial-algal interactions and exploring how they influence the earth's climate. Interactions between bacteria and algae occur physically when bacteria live on and in algae, but they can also occur chemically through the multitude of bioactive compounds that marine bacteria and algae produce. These compounds modulate their symbiotic partner's behavior and survival, and in this way are able to shape marine communities. Also of interest are the chemical interactions between bacteria and algae that produce climatically important intermediates of the marine sulfur and carbon cycles.