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!

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

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)!

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 Discovers Extended Carbon Dioxide Coma in Interstellar Object 3I-ATLAS spherex.caltech.edu/news/3i-atla... #SPHEREx #3IATLAS 🧪🔭

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

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.

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!

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

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

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

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.

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!)!

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!

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!).

Today was joyous. Took this photo in my office just before I met with each @seseasu.bsky.social faculty member promoted to Associate Professor. Congratulations to Katrina Bossert, Joe O'Rourke, Elizabeth Trembath Reichert, Allison Noble, Alex van Engelen, Duane DeVecchio, and Jnaneshwar Das!

Laurie is an incredible, inspirational leader and a dear friend. She had incredible head winds to contend with during her time at JPL and I know she gave it her all. Wish her all the very best as she moves on to her next chapter in leadership and impact (after a much deserved break!)!

Great weekend in DC for the #nasannualmeeting

Had meant to post this last week, but just catching up now and sharing some of the amazing vignettes from @seseasu.bsky.social’s first, and hopefully annual, Community Art Show!

A powerful short film on the scale of time, with a question we all need to ask: What is important in the time we have? www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOVv...

One of our favorite hikes in the PHX area on a picture perfect day.

Read this. And then call your Representative and Senators to have them *fight* this wilful destruction of American scientific leadership. arstechnica.com/space/2025/0...

And can’t forget post about the geologic wonders of Hong Kong, including the 140 million year old columnar jointed tuffs of the High Island Formation - totally spectacular!

Images from last week’s trip to Hong Kong with @astrodocscott.bsky.social, including visits to the Royal Geographic Society and the University of Hong Kong (where I got to hold rocks from the far side of the Moon!).

Exactly what faculty meetings should be like!Love @seseasu.bsky.social! @larrynittler.bsky.social #EdGarnero

Always a thrill to be in a place I’ve never been to before!

Here is my best guidance for action, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons more than eight years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century." snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

Gorgeous Arizona sunset… a good night to all!

The “eyes” of NASA’s Perseverance rover @nasapersevere.extwitter.link are helping us to collect perhaps the greatest planetary rock collection ever! news.asu.edu/20250317-sci...

Tacit knowledge: use it wisely, or break it all up and lose it for good. #nasa #science #space www.techpolicy.press/invigorating...

Congratulations to #Firefly!! #BlueGhost is on the Moon! Can’t wait to see those first images of the lunar surface from the lander (should be within about 30 min).

Thrilled to see the @seseasu.bsky.social Virtual Classroom powered by ASU’s Dreamscape Learn capabilities come to life with generous support from Susie Marston! This will allow our students to learn geology and astronomy concepts in VR immerse environments.

Behold an amazingly fresh carbonaceous chondrite that fell in Arizona (likely in April 2024)! The “CMS” scale cube is 1 cm on the side. If you look carefully, you can see some mm-sized chondrules in this cut face.

Proposed Science Themes for NASA’s Fifth New Frontiers Mission - a NASEM CAPS report nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/2799...

Welcome to @seseasu.bsky.social, prospective grad students! Great to meet some of the amazing students accepted to our grad programs who are visiting for the next couple days.

View from the rooftop this morning. Good morning!

Picacho Peak with @astrodocscott.bsky.social… our idea of fun on #SuperBowlSunday!

Fragments of a new Mars meteorite that’s a likely fall from April (but found in Sept) 2024 in Arizona! The biggest mass (second pic) is 800 grams. WOW!! #TucsonGemMineralShow

I wrote about NASA, its people and the mission to connect us. slate.com/technology/2...

Beautiful sunrise at Tempe Town Lake. Good morning!

The first big publications from the OSIRIS-REx sample-return mission report the building blocks of life (lots of them!) in the asteroid Bennu. Words by me:

I think some people hear “grants” and think that without them, scientists and government workers just have less stuff to play with at work. But grants fund salaries for students, academics, researchers, and people who work in all areas of public service. “Pausing” grants means people don’t eat.

Beautiful day for the Tempe Blooms festival!