Every summer, the UNH Sustainability Institute offers a variety of fellowships focused on generating effective action towards sustainability. The Sustainability Fellowships place students with academic, community, non-profit, and corporate partners to complete an impactful project that has lasting value.
Jackson Kaspari ‘18, ‘22 (Chemical Engineering and Chemistry) served as a Sustainability Fellow in 2018 with the City of Dover’s Planning and Community Development Department. As part of the role, Jackson conducted the first combined Greenhouse Gas and Nitrogen Inventory Report for a municipality in North America. Using UNHSI’S Sustainability Indicator Management and Analysis Platform (SIMAP), he established bounds for scopes of emissions and compiled relevant data. With the assistance of City Staff, Jackson produced a report detailing the City’s environmental footprint status. The results allowed Dover to evaluate emissions associated with its local government operations and determine areas to make improvements.
In applying for the fellowship, Jackson was looking for an opportunity to expand his experience and do something outside his comfort zone. During the fellowship, he gained insight into the workings of municipal government and witnessed the immediate impact his project held. Jackson remained active with the City of Dover, serving as a member of the Planning Board and the Electric Vehicle Subcommittee.
In September 2021, Jackson accepted a position as Dover’s Resilience Coordinator and Assistant City Planner, which was created in part from a request to the City Council by the Energy Commission.
The position has evolved overtime but heavily involves supporting the Energy Commission, Conservation Commission and Open Lands Committee. Since the various initiatives involve community collaboration, Jackson worked to expand local outreach efforts and encourage participation with the City’s Outreach Coordinator, Erin Bassegio. He explains resilience, in this context, as a “citizen driven ability to respond to adversity like environmental challenges” and be “improving rather than maintaining a system.”
Recently, Jackson was promoted to the Resilience Manager of Dover. He is currently drafting the Citywide Resilience Plan, which will cover a variety of topics from municipal solar projects to local food systems. Another big goal is to help the City work with the Community Power Coalition of New Hampshire and potentially launch a Dover Community Power Initiative. In addition, Jackson now coordinates the City’s land conservation and preservation program, which involves work like monitoring Dover's conservation areas.
Looking forward, Jackson is eager to see what the future holds. He finds it “very rewarding to work in municipal government with a fantastic team” and use his skills from academia to “apply them in tangible ways.”
From the beginning of his fellowship to his current position as the Resilience Manager, his experience has come full circle. “The Sustainability Institute has been a valuable resource,” Jackson reflects. Thanks to his initial fellowship role, he now is able to apply his cumulative academic and professional knowledge towards the future of Dover’s resiliency.
