I am a PhD candidate at Nanjing University working on galactic chemical evolution, with hands-on experience reducing and analyzing ALMA observations. My research connects molecular-line measurements, elemental abundances, stellar yields, and galaxy evolution models to understand how galaxies form stars and enrich their interstellar medium.
My current work focuses on using CO isotopologues, especially ¹³CO and C¹⁸O, as tracers of the stellar initial mass function in high-redshift galaxies. Because ¹³C and ¹⁸O are produced by different stellar populations, their abundance and line ratios can preserve information about the stellar populations that enriched a galaxy. I use ALMA observations and galactic chemical evolution models to interpret these chemical fingerprints.
I am also interested in building more physically motivated chemical evolution frameworks. This includes connecting GCE models with realistic star formation histories, gas inflow and outflow, semi-analytical galaxy formation models, and updated stellar yield prescriptions for massive stars, AGB stars, low-metallicity populations, and binaries.
Looking ahead, I aim to combine ALMA and JWST observations with chemical evolution modeling and simulations to study star formation, IMF variations, and chemical enrichment from nearby galaxies to the early Universe.