Jackson Voss

Jackson Voss (MPP/STPP'18) is a policy researcher at the Kathleen Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana - Lafayette, where he studies and writes about state and local policy on a wide range of issues, from healthcare and workforce development to energy and environment. Having been raised by a virologist and attorney, the ways in which science and technology interact with government and politics were always an area of interest, leading Jackson to seek his certificate in Science, Technology, and Public Policy while studying for his Masters of Public Policy at the Ford School. In particular, Jackson is interested in how science and technology affects and is affected by politics. Whether one considers changes in political and economic behavior in response to climate change and automation of labor, or is concerned with the ways in which politics drives the creation of certain medical technologies or influences the use of artificial intelligence, it is an exciting (and distressing) time for policymakers in this space - making programs like STPP all the more important. Prior to his work at the Blanco Center, Jackson worked for U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-Michigan) as a member of his Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs Committee staff, where he worked mainly on the federal property, transportation infrastructure, and appropriations portfolios. Before coming to the Ford School, Jackson worked on political campaigns and local economic development across the American South.