My name is Jacob Payne (he/him), and I am a fourth year PhD Candidate in Physics & Astronomy. I was born Reston, VA and grew up in Atlanta, GA. I lived in Atlanta through college, where I graduated from Georgia Tech in 2018 with a BS and 2019 with an MS, both in Aerospace Engineering. I studied spacecraft subsystems scaled for CubeSat form factors. From there, I went to work at Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, CO. At the University of Iowa, I am studying pulsars and telescope optics at X-ray wavelengths to provide Pulsar-informed Navigation (PIN) to small spacecraft for deployment throughout the Solar System.  

As Director of the Physical Health & Safety Committee, my focus is to ensure that all Graduate and Professional Students can achieve their best in academics and research. This means bringing our campus' resources to the GPS community through many channels. I aim to increase the channels through which resources are communicated to the UI campus community, while also opening channels for the community to have their concerns heard and addressed. On a personal note, I was formerly the President of the University of Iowa Cycling Club and am cycling advocate. While our campus is spending $10s of Millions on transportation & parking facilities, I hope to coordinate support for cycling infrastructure, including covered and secure bike parking.