Speck was born in Bradford, Yorkshire, where she was inspired to study physics by the Apollo space program and by watching Star Trek.[2][3] She studied astrophysics at Queen Mary University of London.[4][5] After completing her undergraduate degree, Speck worked as a research and development technician in Lancashire.[2] She was a graduate student at University College London, earning a PhD in astronomy at 1998 for research on the dust and molecules around evolved stars.[6]