About
Aloha! My name is Yuchen, which literally means ‘the universe and stars’ in Chinese. I go by the name Elina. I am a first-year Ph.D. student at the Institute for Astronomy, UH Manoa.
My primary interests are exoplanets and planetary systems, with a consideration of their host stars. I want to explore more about finding exoplanets around various host stars, developing theoretical models for planetary systems, and hunting potentially habitable worlds.
I have engaged in research in different fields. My past research projects include ‘Astrometric Properties of Late-B and A Stars in the Cygnus and Perseus Star-forming Complexes’, ‘Discovery of the X-ray Bright Quasars at z>5’, and ‘Recent Swift Spectroscopy of Cygnus X-3’.
I am a cat person and have a cat with my roommate. I love puzzle games and escape rooms.

Yuchen (Elina) Zhang
B.S. 2021, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor