Chen graduated in 2021 with a BSc (hons) in Earth and Marine Sciences from The Australian National University, where his thesis involved coupling planktonic foraminifera boron isotope and trace element records to reconstruct the atmospheric CO₂ concentrations during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. Additionally, he also served as a part-time student technician in Prof Jimin Yu's Lab, where he gained experience in foraminifera-related geochemistry work.

Chen is currenting conducting his PhD at the University of St Andrews and in partnership with the British Antarctic Survey, under the sponsorship of NERC-IAPETUS2 Studentship. Chen’s project focusses on using boron isotopes to reconstruct the CO₂ system of the Southern Ocean over the past 800,000 years, with the aim of constraining the role this critical region played in glacial-interglacial CO₂ change. Chen is also part sponsored by Nu, a leading manufacturer of MC-ICPMS instruments, as his project is developing groundbreaking new methods of boron isotope analysis on the state-of-the-art Sapphire CC-MC-ICPMS.