Meenakshi Wadhwa, 2003 Women of Discovery Air & Space Award

""Follow your interests and success will follow."" — Meenakshi Wadhwa

Planetary Scientist

Born: 1967-01-01

Hometown: Chandirgarh, India

Education: PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences

Achievements

Discoveries: Oxidation state of the crust and mantle of Mars

Expeditions: Hunting for meteorites in Antarctica

Biography

Meenakshi Wadhwa is a cosmochemist interested in deciphering the origin and evolution of the Solar System and planetary bodies through geochemical and isotopic means. She uses high-precision mass spectrometric techniques to investigate a wide range of Solar System materials. These include meteorites of asteroidal and Martian origin, Moon rocks (from the Apollo missions and lunar meteorites), and other samples returned by spacecraft missions such as Genesis and Stardust. Her research focuses on understanding their formation processes (using trace- and minor-element distributions and stable-isotope systematics) and time scales (using various radiogenic isotope chronometers). As Director of the Center for Meteorite Studies, she oversees the curation of one of the largest university-based meteorite collections, as well as a variety of research and educational activities conducted in the Center.

Fun Facts

Favorite Item to have in the field: A 10X hand lens

Heroes: Ernest Shackleton, Antarctic explorer