Meenakshi Wadhwa

Meenakshi Wadhwa has an extensive work experience in the field of cosmochemistry and planetary science. Meenakshi is currently serving as the Principal Scientist for the Mars Sample Return program at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory since 2021. Prior to this, they held the position of Director of the School of Earth & Space Exploration at Arizona State University since 2019 and also served as a Professor in the same department since 2006. Meenakshi has been involved in investigating the origin and evolution of the Solar System and planetary bodies, using high-precision mass spectrometric techniques to analyze various materials such as meteorites and moon rocks. Meenakshi Wadhwa has also served as the Director of the Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University from 2006 to 2019. Before joining Arizona State University, they worked as a Curator in the Department of Geology at The Field Museum from 1995 to 2006. Meenakshi began their career as a Postdoctoral Research Geochemist at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography from 1994 to 1995.

Meenakshi Wadhwa earned their Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Earth & Planetary Sciences from Washington University in St. Louis, completing their studies from 1989 to 1994.