Jakob Kerns is from San Diego, California, and received his B.A. in Economics from the University of San Diego in 2020 with minors in Mathematics and French. He is now pursuing a JD at Georgetown University Law Center. Jakob has particular interests in the effects of economic development and population growth on water access, migration, conflict, and environmental protection.

As an undergraduate, Jakob spent a semester in Aix-en-Provence, France, mastering French. He also completed a senior thesis researching the effects of economic growth and inequality on returns to educational investment. After graduation, Jakob worked doing military health research and analysis at Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD). While at NMCSD, he was published in research on Augmented Reality assisted surgery, as well as authored research selected for presentation at the Military Health System Research Symposium on the global implementation of the Joint Tele-Critical Care Network, a system that provides support to remote intensive care units via teleconference. Jakob is fluent in French and Spanish, as well as possessing intermediate proficiency in Norwegian.