Jagriti Luitel

VOLUNTEER

Jagriti Luitel is currently a final year undergraduate student at the University of New Brunswick, Canada.Born and raised in the foothills of the Himalayas, Nepal, she recalls an insatiable curiosity, a yearning for being purpose-driven, and the desire for creative expression instilled early on.

She found that space exploration intersects all of these; however, her interest in the field turned into a deep, lifelong fascination after the 7.8 magnitudes Nepal Earthquake in 2015. This disaster triggered a chain of life-altering events, ranging from her family’s immigration to Canada to being introduced to the Earth applications of space technologies for disaster management. Later, this would be pursued through her involvement in the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA).

After her arrival, she joined the Royal Canadian Air Cadets and volunteered as one of the first female aviation instructors. She continued her passion for aerospace and impact in university through satellite engineering. She achieved notable distinctions, including being a national aerospace fellow (Zenith Fellow 2022), a 2-time finalist for the Brooke Owens fellowship in the US, and completing almost 5 internships including at the Canadian Space Agency. Additionally, she advises SEDS-Nepal, conducting workshops for 120+ Nepalese students on overcoming political barriers for developing countries in aerospace. During COVID-19, she also led a mental health organization, strategizing resources for the 8,000 undergraduate students by drawing inspiration from ancient practices of Eastern spirituality.

She then founded and led the successful project called StratoFredericton, launching a High-Altitude Balloon 103,000 ft into the stratosphere to capture images of the Earth, raise climate awareness through the overview effect, and motivate leadership for girls in STEM. She was also selected for the Advanced PoSSUM Space Academy to train as a citizen scientist-astronaut where she trained with IVA spacesuit and performed an aerobatic flight.

Jagriti recently completed a Zero Gravity flight with Aurelia’s 2024 Horizon cohort. Her project was wearing a custom-made piece by a space Fashion designer Deborah Won through her new company Pisces Rising. She represented Nepal’s national flower rhododendrons on the flight. Next, she is incredibly excited to continue her involvement with Aurelia through her independent research project of utilizing advancements in space architecture for post natural disaster management on Earth. She hopes this instigates social innovation through aerospace on Earth.

Jagriti excels in verbal and written communication, with 7+ years of debating and public speaking experience. She manages her own blog, podcast, and YouTube channel and has been interviewed by various media outlets such as CBC, CTV, and CSA. In her free time, she enjoys painting, embarking on extreme adventures, cultural expression through dancing, and having philosophical conversations. Her story is the human story—values from being an immigrant, a middle-class upbringing, hard work and resilience as the means of getting ahead, and the conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others.