Jerry Cavin first turned to amateur astronomy while growing up under the dark skies of Iowa. After leaving the farm, he completed a BS in Computer Science with a minor in Electrical Engineering at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He worked for 10 years as the Lead Software Engineer at the Control Data Corporation specializing in real time control systems. After getting married he moved to Austin, Texas and spent over 15 years at the University of Texas at Austin working as a Research Scientist Associate on electronic warfare systems.

He is currently working as a Systems Engineer at Overwatch System and will be completing his second MSc degree in Astronomy at the Swinburne Astronomy Online, via the Centre for Astrophysics and Supercomputing in Melbourne, Australia.