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Phytoplankton have played key roles in shaping Earth's biogeochemistry and contemporary human economy, yet because the human experience is so closely tied to higher plants as sources of food, fiber, and fuel, the role of phytoplankton in our everyday lives is often over-looked. The most familiar phytoplankton products we consume are petroleum and natural gas. Their uses as fuels, and in its myriad refined forms, as plastics, dyes, and chemical feedstocks are so critical to the industrialized world that wars are fought over the ownership of these fossilized hydrocarbons. Since the beginning of civilization, we have used the remains of calcareous nanoplankton, deposited over millions of years in ancient ocean basins, for building materials. Diatomaceous oozes are mined as additives for reflective paints, polishing materials, abrasives, and for insulation. Phytoplankton provided the original source of oxygen …