Meenakshi Wadhwa
@minwadhwa
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Director, Scripps Inst. Oceanography & Vice Chancellor, UC San Diego. Explorer, educator, wife, stepmom.
Joined March 2012
For the 4th year in a row, we’ve teamed up with @WHOI and international partners to bring back the #OceanPavilion: a space dedicated to spotlighting the ocean’s critical role in climate action. 🌊View programming here: https://t.co/JdFisaX3lO
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ICYMI, we shared some big news this week! 🎉 Scripps Institution of Oceanography at @UCSanDiego is proud to welcome esteemed Earth & planetary scientist Meenakshi Wadhwa as the 12th director of our institution. Hear directly from Dr. Wadhwa in this video:
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Interstellar comet update ☄️ NASA's fleet of spacecraft has been working to collect data on 3I/ATLAS, only the third object ever confirmed to have come from outside our solar system. Several missions have observed the comet – and others will get a chance soon! Details ⬇️
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🌊💙 Thanks for everything, Margaret! This week, Margaret Leinen steps down as the eleventh director of Scripps Oceanography, leaving behind a legacy of visionary leadership, support for innovative research, and championing of diversity and collaboration. https://t.co/P4FfoOcmI0
scripps.ucsd.edu
Margaret Leinen inherited a research center facing severe budget problems, a perception that it was not doing enough to integrate with UC San Diego and a somewhat resistant old guard when she became...
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Launch success! NISAR is in orbit and communicating with @NASA and @ISRO teams after launching from India this morning 🚀 The mission will study Earth’s land and ice surfaces, providing critical insight into how our planet changes over time. https://t.co/m1uEXR5QqR
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NISAR: Revealing Earth's changing surface 🌏 Launching soon, NISAR will give us a detailed view of how Earth’s land and ice surfaces are shifting over time, helping us understand what’s changing, where, and why. Watch to learn more ⬇️
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Introducing @NASAScience_! Bringing you the incredible science and research happening on our planet and beyond straight to your X feed. Stay tuned for more. 🌎🚀🌠
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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 https://t.co/LZWewMKG8w
nature.com
Nature - Space-agency declaration of dissent and NSF petition join similar documents from staff at the EPA and the NIH.
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Dear Friends, sharing some news here about my upcoming transition. While I’m sad to be leaving @SESEASU @ASU after 19 incredible years, I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to contribute to @Scripps_Ocean @UCSD in the years to come.
We are thrilled to announce that Meenakshi Wadhwa will serve as the Vice Chancellor for Marine Sciences, Director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and Dean of the School of Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at @UCSanDiego! 🧵⬇️
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Now on @sciam: 3I/ATLAS, the third known interstellar object to enter our solar system, is full of mysteries. Here's what scientists are trying to learn about it before it boomerangs back to the void. By @Astro_Jonny. https://t.co/V9oKXrAzGD
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What do we know about the newly discovered interstellar comet, A1/ATLAS? This rare visitor from beyond our solar system was discovered this week. It's not a threat to Earth, but it poses a great science opportunity! Learn more: https://t.co/RXeLtttHQW
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Not only could geomagnetism influence what happens on the Earth's surface — the converse could also be true: The structure of the crust could feed back on convection in the Earth's core, affecting the geomagnetic field 🤯 https://t.co/ZxSJsJUNAs
nature.com
Nature - As Earth’s magnetic field has risen, so have the conditions that helped complex life to thrive — a discovery that could aid the search for life on distant planets.
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Sun Devils are leading space exploration. @ASU students and scientists are powering NASA’s Europa Clipper mission, capturing images and searching for signs of habitability on the distant Jupiter moon, Europa. 🛰️🔱 https://t.co/qjn955VxNS
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Billions of years ago on Mars, Jezero Crater held a lake 22 miles wide. The data and samples I’m gathering today can help scientists learn more about the geologic history of Mars – and may one day tell us if microscopic life ever existed here.
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Over 1,500 sols spent on Mars – and the dust still keeps me company🙂 Can you spot the dust devil? These columns of air and dust are common on the Red Planet. Scientists can learn more about Martian weather patterns and dust on the planet by studying these whirling wonders.
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Drifting noctilucent clouds on Mars captured by NASA's Curiosity rover on January 17, 2025 over the course of about 16 minutes (cropped, frame smoothed and sped up video; source: https://t.co/Lqpi71seGW)
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Sign of life on an exoplanet? Read my article for more context on the discovery: https://t.co/BSwn20zcMP via @ConversationUS @uarizona @StewardAstro @uazresearch @UArizonaLPL
theconversation.com
The exoplanet K2-18b could harbor a massive ocean, but scientists will need to study the planet more to see if it’s really likely to host life.
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Astronomers detected a possible signature of life on a planet orbiting a star 120 light-years away.
nytimes.com
Further studies are needed to determine whether K2-18b, which orbits a star 120 light-years away, is inhabited, or even habitable.
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The first reaction from the @NASAPersevere team when they saw this rock was, "Whoa, what is that? What could have caused that?" Learn all about the rover's 25th rock sample, dubbed Sapphire Canyon, and the clues it offers about possible past life on Mars.
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