A worker reinforces the dirt road that connects the new mines to Bolivia’s first lithium extraction plant in Llipi.

Rachel Hiles (’16) and Nina Zou (’16) won the David Teeuwen Student Journalism Award for their master’s theses, the multimedia project “Chasing Lithium.” It was one of three works nominated, all of them produced by Berkeley J-School students, and became the seventh OJA win for a J-School graduate in eight years.

Chasing Lithium explores the complexities of the massive lithium industry that so many of us depend on daily. The project shows, through short videos, informative graphics, photographs and text, how an industry that stretches from the brine mines of Bolivia to the toxic landfills of China has reached a turning point.

As Bolivia tries to capitalize on its vast supply of lithium, researchers everywhere are attempting to maximize the capacity and ability of the lithium battery through new technology, and China is realizing the need to properly recycle these batteries, which can do serious environmental damage once they are out of use.

Watch it here: https://chasinglithium.com/