Office of Undergraduate Research

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/20157

Emphasizing equitable and inclusive access to research opportunities, the University of Maryland's Office of Undergraduate Research (OUR) empowers undergraduates and faculty to engage and succeed in inquiry, creative activity, and scholarship. This collection includes materials shared by undergraduate researchers during OUR events. It also encompasses materials from Undergraduate Research Day 2020, Undergraduate Research Day 2021, and Undergraduate Research Day 2022, which were organized by the Maryland Center for Undergraduate Research.

Browse

Filters

20241

Settings

Author: search.filters.author.Morelli, LukeSubject: search.filters.subject.First Year Innovation and Research Experience

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Exploring the Relationship between Cobalt Mining and Conflict in the DRC
    (2024) Morelli, Luke; Ruangmas, Thanicia
    Abstract: Electric vehicles (EVs) are an integral part of carving out a sustainable future, but ramping up their production has inevitably resulted in a skyrocketing demand for numerous essential raw materials used in the production of lithium-ion batteries, including cobalt. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) contains 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, and due to the long and documented history of a relationship between the proliferation of armed groups and the country’s mining sector, many human rights organizations and large corporations are advocating for cobalt to be considered a conflict mineral. This paper will assess the validity of these claims and the nature of the relationship between cobalt mining and conflict by utilizing a Differences-in-Differences (DID) approach with spatial data on cobalt mine locations and conflict events. Spatial data on cobalt mine locations is sourced from the International Peace Information Service’s (IPIS) dataset, while conflict event data is sourced from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) database. The preliminary results of this paper’s statistical analysis suggest that there is no statistically significant relationship between cobalt mining and conflict in the DRC, which interestingly contrasts with findings for other minerals in the region, such as gold or tin.