| Deniz Burnham | |
| Birth Name: | Deniz Melissa Burnham |
| Birth Date: | 1 October 1985 |
| Birth Place: | Adana, Turkey |
| Education: | University of California, San Diego (BS) University of Southern California (MS) |
| Type: | NASA astronaut |
| Rank: | Lieutenant, USNR |
| Selection: | NASA Group 23 (2021) |
Deniz Melissa Burnham (born October 1, 1985)[1] is a lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve and NASA astronaut. She worked as a drilling engineer based in Wasilla, Alaska before working with NASA.[2] [3]
Burnham was born at Incirlik Air Base in Adana, Turkey to parents Ed and Şahver Burnham. She relocated various times throughout her childhood due to her military family.[4] Her Turkish mother had aspired to be a military officer when she has seen many women officers with success and later joined the United States Air Force.[5]
Eventually, Burnham moved to Fairfield, California, graduating from Vanden High School. In 2007, she graduated from the University of California, San Diego with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and in 2017, graduated from the University of Southern California with a master's degree in mechanical engineering. During her time in graduate school, Burnham served as an intern at the NASA Ames Research Center.
For more than a decade, Burnham led offshore oil drilling operations in various locations across the United States and Canada. Burnham currently serves in the United States Navy Reserve as the executive officer of a shipyard operations unit in Alameda, California.
On December 6, 2021, Burnham was revealed to be one of ten candidates selected as part NASA Astronaut Group 23.
Burnham lived in Wasilla, Alaska with her fiancé Shaun Little while working as a drilling engineer. Burnham holds a private pilot license, as well as helicopter and instrument ratings.[4]