Jessica Wiskus is the 7th generation of her family to live in rural Iowa. The daughter of a farmer and a teacher, she completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Iowa and went on to earn two master's degrees and a doctorate from Yale University. An academic researcher by trade, the many safety, environmental, and ethical concerns pertaining to the proposed CO2 pipelines led her to organize with her neighbors against eminent domain and run for the Iowa State Senate in District 42.