Jenni Gibbons was born in Calgary, Alberta. She studied at McGill University in Montreal, then at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Prior to joining the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), Dr. Gibbons worked as an assistant professor in combustion at the Department of Engineering of the University of Cambridge. Through her study of turbulent combustion, fuel characteristics, and gas turbine engines, she worked to reduce harmful pollutants associated with power generation gas turbines.
Jenni Gibbons was selected as an astronaut candidate by the CSA in July 2017. She completed the two-year Astronaut Candidate Training Program and obtained the official title of astronaut in January 2020. Since then, she has continued to serve Canada’s space program as an active astronaut at NASA. She works in different technical and operational positions, including from Mission Control as a capcom during spacewalks, commercial vehicle proximity operations, and daily International Space Station operations. In 2023, she was assigned as a backup on the Artemis II mission to the Moon and started training to become a lunar capcom to support future missions to the Moon.
