Shipley was a Starfleet officer assigned to the USS Enterprise-D during the mid to late 2360s.
In 2365, Shipley was an ensign and worked as a transporter chief aboard the Enterprise-D. He assisted Miles O'Brien operating the transporter console when the two prepared it to beam Doctor Katherine Pulaski back aboard, filtering her DNA. (TNG: "Unnatural Selection")
By 2369, Shipley had been promoted to lieutenant jg and worked in main engineering. He was the leader of a diagnostic team that was investigating strange malfunctions in cargo bay 4 caused by attempts of solanogen-based lifeforms to create a spatial rupture in the cargo bay. He later assisted Geordi La Forge in closing the rapture after Commander William T. Riker brought Ensign Sariel Rager back through it from the lifeforms' domain. (TNG: "Schisms")
Shipley was played by actor Scott Trost.