Aloha! My name is Yuchen, which literally means ‘the universe and stars’ in Chinese. I go by the name Elina. I am a 3rd-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 enjoy exploring finding exoplanets around various host stars, developing theoretical models for planetary systems, and hunting potentially habitable worlds.
My 699-2 project, supervised by Prof. Fei Dai, involves measuring the stellar obliquity of TOI-880 using the Rossiter–McLaughlin (RM) effect, with data obtained from the Keck Planet Finder (KPF). My 699-1 project, with Dr. Theron Carmichael and Prof. Dan Huber, focuses on characterizing two transiting brown dwarf systems: TOI-4776 and TOI-5422. My past undergraduate and master’s research has spanned diverse fields, including stellar dynamics and X-ray astronomy.
Outside of research, I’m a cat person who loves puzzle games and escape rooms.