Ekta Patel

Ekta Patel is currently a NASA Hubble Fellow at the University of Utah's Department of Physics & Astronomy and will join Villanova University as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2025. She holds a B.A. in Physics from New York University (2014) and a Ph.D. in Astronomy & Astrophysics from the University of Arizona (2019), advised by Professor Gurtina Besla. Her research focuses on satellite galaxy dynamics and dark matter halos using observational data and cosmological simulations. She has held postdoctoral roles at UC Berkeley, including a Miller Fellowship, and co-founded the Cal-URSA undergraduate research program. Her work contributes to near-field cosmology through collaborations like HSTPROMO and PHAST.

• Education: NYU (B.A. Physics, 2014), UA (Ph.D. Astronomy & Astrophysics, 2019)
• Awards: NASA Hubble Fellow, Miller Postdoctoral Fellow

Research interests include computational astrophysics, dwarf galaxy interactions, and tracing dark matter through satellite galaxy orbital histories. She uses Gaia data and simulation-driven models to study Milky Way and Andromeda systems.