James Quirk Reflects on the '82 Upper Valley Community Impact Fellowship

Hello! My name is James, and I'm writing this brief note as a reflection on my
experience as one of the Center for Social Impact's Upper Valley Community Impact Fellows
during the 2023-2024 school year. I applied for this opportunity during my sophomore summer
with little to no reference for how it would shape my junior year. While I knew I would be
working part-time during the fall and winter and full-time in the spring, I had no clue what
project I would be working on, what organization I would be partnered with, and what my role
within their staff would be.

My first meeting after deciding to accept the fellowship took place the first week of my
junior fall. Henry Do Rosario, DCSI's Assistant Director, who acts as the liaison between
Dartmouth and the Fellows, provided me with the direction that I previously lacked, sharing that
my partner organization would be the Connecticut River Conservancy (CRC), an organization
that advocates for and preserves the Connecticut River. I was at liberty to choose my project
from a couple of predetermined topics, meaning my contribution was defined enough to be
certain that my work was worthwhile to CRC yet open-ended enough to allow me to tailor it to
my specific interests.

The project that I selected was on implementing extended producer responsibility (EPR)
legislation in New Hampshire. If you've never heard of EPR before, EPR programs shift the
responsibility of waste disposal from consumers to producers– think Vermont's Bottle Bill or
returning printer cartridges to printer companies for reuse. I was specifically tasked with
determining the history of attempts to enact a packaging EPR program in New Hampshire and
proposing an implementation strategy that CRC can use as a reference for advocacy in New
Hampshire in the near future. Just as Henry was my point person on the Dartmouth end of the
project, Kate Buckman, the New Hampshire River Steward, was my point of contact within
CRC, acting as a guide throughout the project.

During the fall and winter terms, I worked from 8 to 10 hours a week conducting
background research, interviewing relevant stakeholders, and occasionally leaving town to gain
exposure to EPR in real-time! In the spring, I was essentially incorporated into the CRC staff,
attending meetings with members of their advocacy department, with my work being about 95%
virtual, and continuing my community engagement throughout the week. By the end of my
fellowship, I had produced a 40-page report on the status and future of EPR in New Hampshire,
including my proposed implementation strategy, a brief video detailing EPR, a blog post
breaking down EPR in New Hampshire, a brochure which CRC implemented relating to EPR in
the Connecticut River Watershed, and an op-ed on PFAS legislation as a brief side project.

If you are considering this opportunity, the Upper Valley Community Impact Fellowship
is great for people who are self-driven and seek to connect with the area surrounding Dartmouth
in a meaningful way outside of academics. I got to engage with community leaders throughout
New England, whether it was at the New Hampshire State House, at community centers in
Springfield and South Hadley, Massachusetts, or even in my homebase of Hanover. This is a
particularly valuable experience if you want to try your hand at solving problems that may or
may not be in your typical realm of interest creatively and robustly. As a Computer Engineering
and French student, I had no experience in either environmental advocacy or public policy.
UVCIF allowed me to broaden my perspective of the Upper Valley while providing meaningful
community service that will last beyond my time at Dartmouth.

Since the conclusion of my fellowship, I have taken the LSAT, inspired by my newfound
interest in social impact and public service. I'm considering pursuing a joint professional degree
in computer science and public policy to apply my interest in public service to the realm of
artificial intelligence, which I am currently researching in Tokyo and which has innumerable
social implications when left unregulated. This experience has had a major impact on my life,
and I would highly recommend considering it during your Dartmouth career!

________

Learn more about the '82 Upper Valley Community Impact Fellowship!