Meenakshi Wadhwa

Halloween celebrations @scrippsocean.bsky.social — ghosts, cool canines and a new variety of dogfish!

My first 3 weeks on the job at @scrippsocean.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social have flown by - learning about the amazing people who work here (including those pictured here from our world-class scientific diving program and ship operations) and the amazing things that we do here.

I think I met my first native San Diegan today @birchaquarium.bsky.social … a gorgeous rosy boa! Also met Rusty, a handsome bearded dragon. Birch is a truly magical place.

YouTube video by Scripps Oceanography Introducing Meenakshi Wadhwa, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego

#ICYMI, we shared some big news this week! 🎉 Scripps Institution of Oceanography at @ucsandiego.bsky.social is proud to welcome esteemed Earth and planetary scientist Meenakshi Wadhwa as the 12th director of our institution. 🪐 Hear directly from Dr. Wadhwa in this video: youtu.be/lbFLXM6BBbI?...

So excited to be here to serve the @scrippsocean.bsky.social community, and advance our mission to understand and protect our planet!

The neo-Gothic facade of the church of Sagrada Família in Barcelona

Ceiling of church of Sagrada Família

Inside the main entrance of Gaudi’s La Pedrera (Casa Milà)

On the rooftop of Gaudi’s La Pedrera (Casa Mila)

Amazed by Gaudi’s city…

Tantalizing— but needs confirmation through careful analyses in laboratories in Earth. This is why we must bring back the samples that Perseverance has so carefully documented and collected!

YES!!

View looking up from the base of Burj Khalifa

View from the top of Burj Khalifa of Dubai at night, tall buildings and city lights

View of the very futuristic oval-shaped Museum of the Future at night.

View of the “human waterfall” in the Dubai Mall.

Dubai at night… including amazing views of and from the top of Burj Khalifa!

A monstrously huge dust storm behind a building, with a pool in the foreground.

Picture of me (on left) and my husband (on right), with Pinnacle Peak (North Scottsdale) in the background on left side.

Beautiful flower arrangement (orange roses, pink tulips, eucalyptus leaves…) on desk in my office. Windows in the background look towards the Superstition Mountains.

A large rectangular sheet cake depicting a sunset view (yellow-orange skies) on a beach — ocean and waves on the right, sand & a plan tree & orange flowers on left.

Snapshots from a memorable penultimate week in AZ… (picture of the Haboob courtesy of @astrodocscott.bsky.social & that of the gorgeous cake thanks to Kim Baptista)!

Me cutting a beautiful cake decorated with an ocean and sunset, with a party in the backdrop.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to thank my long-time AZ friends and colleagues @seseasu.bsky.social for the many wonderful years of camaraderie, collaborations, and friendship I’ve enjoyed here. Definitely one of my best career and life decisions to come here 19+ years ago!

SPHEREx discovered a bright CO2 coma (the extended gaseous atmosphere of a comet) surrounding 3I/ATLAS. It extends out to at least 348,000 km. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

SPHEREx Discovers Extended Carbon Dioxide Coma in Interstellar Object 3I-ATLAS

spherex.caltech.edu/news/3i-atla... #SPHEREx #3IATLAS 🧪🔭

Three views of a work of art called “Fallen Star” on the campus of UCSD by artist Do Ho Suh: a cottage perched on top of a building, with over half its base hanging off the building.

Surprised and delighted to come across this earlier this week… art transforms the mundane into magic and proves that delight can often hide in plain sight.​​​​​​ #FallenStar

Scripps Oceanography’s new director aims to build collaborative studies toward ‘understanding and protecting our planet’ Planetary scientist Meenakshi Wadhwa is due to return to her postdoctoral roots at UCSD in October after six years as director of the School of Earth and Space Exploration at Arizona State

www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2025/08/04/s...

Two views of the Sun setting over Tempe Town Lake - brilliant orange colors and some clouds.

Soaking in another AZ sunset.

Every reputable expert I know considers mRNA vaccine technology to be one of the most revolutionary advances in medicine in our lifetimes. Its inventors won the Nobel Prize in 2023. Shutting it down now is pointless self-harm to humanity.

Group photo with staff in SESE at ASU.

Group photo with faculty in SESE at ASU.

Group photo with my research group that I’ve worked with over my 19 years at SESE.

Image of the SESE booth at the AGU conference, showing the school banner.

Yesterday was my last day as Director @seseasu.bsky.social. I’m proud of what our school community has achieved over the last 6 yrs, building on a trajectory set in motion 19 yrs ago when SESE was founded. I know SESE will achieve greater heights in the coming years — I will be cheering them on!

A series of 4 photos showing the progression of a sunset over the Pacific Ocean, with silhouettes of palm trees in foreground.

OK, so La Jolla sunsets are not so bad… and I can almost trick myself into seeing a green flash in the last image!

Me and my husband with a brilliant sunset behind us.

View of a beautiful sunset (orange clouds in a blue sky) looking out on Tempe Town Lake from the balcony of a building next to the lake.

One of the many things I will miss about living in Arizona is the sunsets… and this view from our balcony of said sunsets!

‘We dissent’: NASA staff declare opposition to Trump cuts Declaration of dissent, which warns that science and safety are at risk, joins similar documents from staff at the EPA and the NIH.

More than 280 NASA employees past and present, including at least 4 astronauts, have signed a declaration of opposition to the many drastic changes that the US administration is working to enact

go.nature.com/44UJqbk

Thanks, Mark! I will certainly miss my friends and colleagues here in AZ. Will also miss the amazing beauty of the desert Southwest.

I’m excited to join you!

Dear Friends, sharing some news here about my upcoming transition. While I’m sad to be leaving @seseasu.bsky.social after 19 incredible years, I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to contribute to @scrippsocean.bsky.social in the years to come.

View from the bow of a boat of blue water and mountains in the distance

Me and my husband sitting at a table on the boat, with blue skies and water in the background

A very talk and old (>900 years) cedar tree in a forest in the Pacific Northwest

View from a harbor at sunset, with some sailboats on the water in foreground and tree-covered hills in the backdrop

Recharging with nature-therapy (and friends-therapy!). Absorbing the beauty and tranquility of the Pacific Northwest, exploring the waterways east of Vancouver Island with friends - teaming with natural beauty and wild life (bald eagles, whales, sea lions!)!

My husband and I in hiking gear, standing in an alpine meadow, with mountains in the backdrop.

Me, my husband and two other friends on a hiking trail with mountains (Colorado Rockies) in the background.

Partly frozen over Alpine lake (Divide Lake) in the foreground and mountains streaked with snow in the backdrop.

Clear Alpine lake in the foreground with reflection of clouds and mountains.

Reminded that “America the Beautiful” was inspired by the beauty of the Colorado Rockies. More important than ever to be reminded of all that is precious and beautiful about this country that I have chosen as my own — happy Independence Day weekend!

Fun article in July issue of @arizonahighways (www.arizonahighways.com/article/mart...) by Matt Jaffe. Matt is an incredible writer, who recently also wrote this profile of @uarizona’s Michael Kotutwa Johnson @kotutwa that I found very moving - check it out: www.arizonahighways.com/article/mich...

Picture perfect day for taking in a ballgame at Wrigley Field (Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds) with family! And Cubbies won!!

Celebrated the 50th anniversary of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences at Washington University this week. Great to be back in my old stomping grounds with old friends from the 4th floor of Compton Hall!

A Dust Storm In Chicago? - Here’s What We Know From Experts A major dust storm impacted Chicago, Illinois on Friday. Here's what we know right now.

Dust storm or Haboob in Chicago. Yep Chicago. My analysis...Whew, crazy weather Friday
www.forbes.com/sites/marsha...

First time (amazingly!) on the University of Washington campus to give some talks. Loved talking to UW students and faculty (and catching up with an old friend from College!).