Dr. Lin earned her Ph.D. from National Taiwan University in 2006. Following her doctorate, she undertook postdoctoral research at the National Taiwan University, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and subsequently at the Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA). In 2009, she commenced her faculty position at ASIAA and currently is a research fellow at ASIAA.

Dr. Lihwai Lin specializes in the study of galaxy evolution and the formation of large-scale cosmic structures. Her research encompasses a broad spectrum of topics, including galaxy mergers, environmental effects on galaxies, quenching mechanisms that halt star formation, and the role of cold gas in star formation processes.

A significant portion of Dr. Lin's earlier work focuses on the impact of galaxy mergers on galaxy evolution. Utilizing data from the DEEP2 Redshift Survey, she has investigated the redshift evolution of galaxy merger rates and examined how interactions between galaxies can trigger star formation. In addition to mergers, Dr. Lin explores how different environments influence galaxy evolution. She has been involved in several large-scale sky surveys, such as Pan-STARRS, SDSS-IV/MaNGA, and the Hyper Suprime-Cam (HSC) survey. Through these collaborations, she has examined how factors like galaxy density and local cosmic environment affect star formation rates across cosmic time. For instance, her research on BzK-selected galaxies at redshift z~2 has shed light on environmental quenching and the triggering of star formation in dense regions of the early universe.

Dr. Lin‘s group currecntly investigates the mechanisms behind star formation quenching—the process that ceases star formation in galaxies. By analyzing "green valley" galaxies, which are in transition between active star-forming and passive states, she has contributed to understanding the pathways and timescales over which galaxies quench their star-forming activities.

Recognizing the critical role of cold gas in star formation, Dr. Lin, together with Prof. Sara Ellison from the University of Victoria, initiated the ALMA-MaNGA QUEnching and STar formation (ALMaQUEST) survey. This project combines observations from the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and the SDSS-IV/MaNGA survey to investigate the relationship between cold gas content and star formation at kiloparsec-scale resolutions. The ALMaQUEST survey has provided valuable data on how molecular gas reservoirs within galaxies influence their star-forming activities and how these processes vary across different galactic environments and evolutionary stages.