Bio

Dr. Shobita Satyapal is a professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at George Mason University, where she explores some of the most exciting questions about the universe: How do black holes form, evolve, and shape the galaxies around them?

She received her B.S. in Physics from Bryn Mawr College and her Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Rochester. She later conducted postdoctoral research at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, where she also served as an instrument scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, collaborating closely with the Space Telescope Science Institute.

Her research draws on observations from a wide range of space- and ground-based telescopes—including JWST, Chandra, XMM-Newton, WISE, Spitzer, Gemini, Keck, VLT/MUSE and the Very Large Array—to understand how supermassive black holes grow and interact with their host galaxies. She is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on early-career researchers.

Dr. Satyapal is the co-author of the book Supermassive Black Holes: From the Beginning of the Universe to the End of Time, which tells the story of black holes from their theoretical birth in Einstein’s equations to their discovery in the distant cosmos. Written for curious minds, the book invites readers into the epic journey of science and the awe-inspiring beauty of the universe.