Wadhwa is Vice Chancellor at University of California San Diego and leads UC San Diego’s ocean, earth, atmospheric and climate science research and education programs at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, the foremost institution dedicated to understanding and protecting the planet to find solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Scripps Oceanography trains the next generation of science leaders and partners with government, non-profits and the private sector to translate scientific knowledge to action.

Wadhwa is an award-winning planetary scientist interested in the time scales and processes involved in the formation and evolution of the solar system and planets, and especially habitable worlds (like Earth and early Mars). She has been involved in numerous spacecraft missions, and most recently served as NASA's Principal Scientist for the Mars Sample Return Program. She is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and has served on numerous advisory committees for the NAS and NASA.