Vanessa Birkel

Vanessa Birkel Technical Sergeant, United States Air Force Name(s): Vanessa Birkel Species: Human (Tau'ri) Homeworld: Earth Rank(s): Technical Sergeant Gender: Female (she/her) Affiliation: United States of America United States Air Force Stargate Command (Beta Site) Portrayed by: Catherine Lough Haggquist

Sergeant Vanessa Birkel is a member of the United States Air Force, stationed at the Beta Site.

History

Birkel was already part of the Stargate Program when rogue elements of the NID attempted to steal the X-303 Project prototype, Prometheus. She was part of the team that established a command post for Major Paul Davis, and monitored communications to and from Prometheus as well as other mobile scanning equipment during the operation to regain control. Her calm under pressure impressed Major Davis, and he conveyed as much to General Hammond, who agreed to find a better use for her talents. She was reassigned to the Alpha Site on P3X-984, performing much the same duties as she had in Nevada, and was present when an Ashrak attempted to disrupt the Jaffa–Tok'ra–Tau'ri alliance.  (SG1: "Prometheus", "Allegiance")

She was later pulled from the Alpha Site in order to help set up the command post for the Airstrike mission on Vis Uban. After Jonas Quinn's mind was compromised by a neural implant installed by Anubis, Birkel helped establish a new Alpha Site on an entirely new world, outside of the extant Stargate Network. She also helped establish the Beta Site as a secondary fallback location, taking some of the strain off the Alpha Site, and eventually redirecting some of the Jaffa and offworld Human refugees away from Stargate Command's primary offworld base.  (SG1: "Fallen", "Homecoming", "Death Knell"; SGR: "The Arrow")

Birkel remained at the Beta Site, under Colonel Louis Ferretti. She had been put forward for promotion to Master Sergeant at least twice, but like many of her peers, the need secrecy surrounding the Stargate Program worked against her career advancement. She was still the base's communications technician when scientists at the Beta Site tested their Naquadria shield enhancements, with the assistance of Bravo Squadron and a selection of Jaffa volunteers.  (SGR: "The Arrow")

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Behind the Scenes

Birkel (credited as "Technical Sergeant") was portrayed by Catherine Lough Haggquist in 1 episode of Stargate SG-1. She also played an unrelated character in Stargate Universe.

Haggquist played Inspector Nora Harris on Continuum, the hunter Jules on Supernatural, and Kit Faulkner on Superman and Lois. She has also appeared in Smallville, Flash Gordon, Caprica, Fringe, Once Upon a Time, iZombie, The Flash, Project Blue Book, and the movies TRON: Legacy and Godzilla.

Appearances
Stargate SG-1 "Prometheus"	Stargate Sagittarius "The Arrow"