Jasmine Lawson — second-year student majoring in geography — was invited to participate in the University of Florida’s (UF) annual undergraduate Future of Florida Summit (FOF).
The 2026 FOF, titled Designing Tomorrow: Florida’s Growth and Development, invited 70 students from across Florida to Gainesville to collaborate on policy proposals focused on managing the state’s growth and development. The summit, hosted by the UF’s Bob Graham Center for Public Service, brought together teams of students who researched and presented public policy proposals. Lawson’s team spent the weekend developing a proposal on the potential expansion of bus transit routes through rural towns in Alachua County.
“The 2026 Future of Florida Summit was such an incredible weekend,” Lawson said. “I attended two breakout sessions during that weekend: economic development and the environment. Both sessions had a set of three experts who specialize in public policies on local and state levels. I learned about ways infrastructure can hinder population growth in Florida, such as increased costs for a new bridge within a city due to project delays. I also learned about the careful preservation of an ecosystem through land-use plans, such as the value of our land for recreational purposes.”
At Florida State University, Lawson is involved in several activities connected to public policy and civic engagement. In addition to majoring in geography with a minor in environmental science, she is also earning the Public Policy Certificate through FSU’s Interdisciplinary Social Science program.
Lawson also serves as the 2026 Florida College Democrats Black Caucus vice chair and gala committee chair, contributing to the organization’s success and networking with political candidates like Yen Bailey. She has also had the opportunity to observe government operations, including showing the House Democratic Office’s manager, communications director, and staff director at the Florida Capitol.
When asked about her most defining moment during her time in FSU’s College of Social Sciences and Public Policy (COSSPP), she said, “My most impactful experience as a COSSPP student has been my attendance at Jeremy Matlow’s visit to FSU Dems in HCB this semester. It was a defining moment to ask a City of Tallahassee mayor candidate ‘What is the first policy that you want to contribute to the City of Tallahassee if you are the next mayor?’ His response was within the framework of an improved housing structure.”
After graduation, Lawson plans to pursue a master’s degree in geographic information science and work toward becoming a geographic information systems scientist. She is interested in exploring the technological innovations of GIS through spatial analysis of the world’s landscapes and cultures.
To learn more about Lawson’s programs, visit cosspp.fsu.edu/geography and cosspp.fsu.edu/iss/undergraduate-certificate-in-public-policy.