Education
Jernigan attended Santa Fe High School in Santa Fe Springs, California. She graduated in 1977. Jernigan attended Stanford University, where she earned a Bachelor of Surgery degree in physics in 1981, an Master of Surgery in engineering science in 1983. At the University of California, Berkeley, she received an Master of Arts in astronomy in 1985.
In 1988 she was awarded a Doctor of Philosophy in space physics and astronomy from Rice University.
