Lithium-ion batteries are found everywhere, from watches to power tools to e-bikes and electric cars. But perhaps you've heard a thing or two about these batteries that make you unsure. This week, Casey and Sara discuss some of the environmental, social justice, and safety issues associated with lithium-ion batteries and how we can look to improve moving forward.

Resources for this episode:

How Lithium-ion Batteries Work | Department of Energy

A Comprehensive Comparative Analysis: Lithium vs Alkaline Batteries - The Earth Awards

Safety Risks to Emergency Responders from Lithium-Ion Battery Fires in Electric Vehicles

EVs are being set on fire in Ottawa for NRC battery abuse research

Electric Car Fires: What You Should Know | Edmunds

Deadly fires from phone, scooter batteries leave lawmakers playing catch-up on safety

Environmental impact of direct lithium extraction from brines | Nature Reviews Earth & Environment

The Environmental Impacts of Lithium and Cobalt Mining

Potential impacts of proposed lithium extraction on biodiversity and conservation in the contiguous United States - ScienceDirect

How is lithium mined? | MIT Climate Portal

Maine Has the Lithium America Needs, But Won't Allow Mining | TIME

Society Watch: Across the globe, indigenous rights are being trampled in lithium goldrush | Reuters

What Is Thermal Runaway? | UL Research Institutes

Their batteries hurt the environment, but EVs still beat gas cars. Here's why

This electric car battery takes less than 5 minutes to charge | CNN Business

Tribes face an uphill battle to defend their sacred land against lithium mining

A fire at a lithium battery factory in South Korea kills 22 mostly Chinese migrant workers

This week, Sara and Casey chat with conservation biologist and data scientist, Dr. Vaughn Shirey, for a wide-ranging conversation about his work in butterfly conservation and climate change. Learn what got Vaughn interested in the field, how artificial intelligence is being used in his work, and what cold climate butterfly species (yeah, that's a thing) are telling us about climate change.

Resources for this episode:

Find more on Dr. Vaughn Shirey and his work HERE

Find Vaughn Shirey on Twitter

Find Vaugh Shirey on Instagram

Vaughn Shirey - Google Scholar

Mosquitoes are common flying insect that inhabit all continents except Antarctica. There are over 3500 species of mosquitoes worldwide, but only somewhere between 6 and 9.3% bite humans and are disease vectors. That said, mosquitos are the deadliest animal on the planet, thanks to their role as a vector for disease. So, would we be better off getting rid of this pesky insect? Casey and Sara discuss the role of mosquitos in the environment, the pros and cons of eradication, and why mosquito gut bacteria is more important than you might expect!

Resources for this episode:

Mosquitopia - NCBI Bookshelf

MOSQUITOES

Why Are Some People Tastier to Mosquitoes Than Others? | Pfizer

About Mosquitoes - CDC

Robust network stability of mosquitoes and human pathogens of medical importance | Parasites & Vectors

Can Garden Plants Really Repel Mosquitoes? - Consumer Reports.

Invasive Mosquitoes - Birds Not Mosquitoes

Aedes communis: The Pollinating Mosquito.

Millions of Mosquitoes Will Rain Down on Hawaii to Save an Iconic Bird | Scientific American

Genetically Modified Mosquitoes - CDC