Why is #space so fascinating? 🪐🤩 Scripps Director @minwadhwa.bsky.social shares her thoughts with @ucsandiego.bsky.social#space ✨ "As I see it, space exploration isn’t about escaping from Earth. It’s one of the most powerful tools we have for understanding and benefiting our home planet," she said.

🎤 Get to know @minwadhwa.bsky.social, director of Scripps Oceanography at @ucsandiego.bsky.social! She sat down with @nbcsandiego.com to chat about why she loves science, innovative Scripps research & more as part of their People You Should Know series. ⤵️ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLYIzrBSCyc

🪸 Congratulations to Dr. Daniel Wangpraseurt on receiving the UC San Diego Chancellor’s Faculty Innovation Award! What Daniel and his team are doing is nothing short of remarkable: developing scalable solutions for one of the planet’s most urgent ecological crises. Learn more at: hybridreefs.com

6 months since I arrived at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and I can honestly say that on most days there have been moments like this one, filled with awe and absolute wonder! What you are seeing here is a baby red octopus at Birch Aquarium… first time hatched, raised & settled in an aquarium!

The four-astronaut crew of NASA’s Artemis II flew to the far side of the moon and set a record for the farthest distance from Earth traveled by any human. https://to.pbs.org/4cf655P

The launch of Artemis 2 was profoundly moving… to see humanity go FORWARD to the Moon again after more than 50 yrs! I hope another generation is inspired to go explore and discover and innovate, to be the best that humans can be — and ultimately be inspired to be better stewards of our own planet.

It was an honor to welcome UC Regent Maria Anguiano to our @scrippsocean.bsky.social campus where she saw the incredible work being done here, including the impactful work at the Tijuana river, robotic exploration of the ocean, and AI-driven visualization of coral reefs for conservation efforts.

Incredible couple of days in Sacramento meeting with our CA representatives. Hope to strengthen @scrippsocean.bsky.social partnerships to increase our coastal, water, and wildfire resilience and to support the health and wellbeing of communities in our great state of California (and the planet!).

So #OSM26 in Glasgow is off to a great start with a fantastic plenary talk by Britney Schmidt— Icefin is so cool! Makes me wish for the day we will have such a robotic oceanographer in the ocean on Europa.

We are looking for innovative and broad-thinking faculty colleagues to join us in understanding and protecting our planet! (And stay tuned for more faculty opportunities to come in the near future…) apol-recruit.ucsd.edu/JPF04460

Congratulations to @helen-amanda.bsky.social and her team for the selection of the EDGE mission as @ucsandiego.bsky.social’s first PI-led NASA mission! today.ucsd.edu/story/uc-san...

Congratulations to Scripps Institution of Oceanography’s Prof. Veerabhadran Ramanathan! I got to know Ram after arriving at Scripps (unfortunately do not overlap with him at U Chicago), and just love how he is still so energized and motivated by his science.

Is that lumpfish the cutest thing you ever saw?! Got to shake hands with an octopus (I know I’ll be visiting him frequently!) and see some incredible things at our experimental aquarium facilities — just another day here @scrippsocean.bsky.social

Heading home after a few days in Davos. Grateful for the opportunity to talk about the ocean, climate and sustainability, space and exploration with leaders from so many different sectors.

Today marks exactly 100 days since I joined @scrippsocean.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social. It felt like a bit of a celebration to walk on Scripps’ campus today and feel moved by all the incredible science-inspired art works that are like little gems tucked in unexpected places!

First sunset from my office @scrippsocean.bsky.social @ucsandiego.bsky.social at the start of Winter Quarter. Here’s to a year of chasing new and amazing discoveries just beyond the horizon and finding magic in everyday moments. Happy New Year!

This week’s absolute highlight was a tour of @scrippsocean.bsky.social’s RV Sally Ride - with @astrodocscott.bsky.social who operated Sally Ride’s KidSat payload on STS-86. This research vessel is a scientific & technological marvel, enabling tremendous ocean & seafloor measurements and sampling!

Spotted Santa delivering presents underwater @birchaquarium.bsky.social yesterday. Happy holidays from @scrippsocean.bsky.social!

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.

#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!

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...