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When considering her future after high school, Dori Stein (’27) envisioned a career where she could combine her love for space with her aptitude for math and engineering.

“When I was researching schools that matched my interests and long-term goals in the space field, Embry‑Riddle stood out because of its industry connections and its strong reputation in aerospace and space-focused research,” she said.

Though Dori originally began her studies as an Astronomy and Astrophysics student, she eventually transferred to the Engineering Physics program with a minor in Astronomy and Astrophysics, hoping to focus more on the practical applications of the theory behind subjects like astronomy and astrophysics.

“Engineering Physics felt like the best bridge between deep physics and real engineering applications, especially because the program at Embry‑Riddle is aligned with spacecraft systems, in addition to rockets,” she said.

Taking the Plunge

During the beginning of Dori’s time at Embry‑Riddle, she joined the Sailing Club, serving as the public relations officer for two semesters.

“In that role, I worked on social media, outreach and networking, which helped me build communication skills and confidence connecting with new people, while also learning a sport I’d always wanted to try,” she shared.

She also took the initiative to present a research poster at Embry‑Riddle's Discovery Day as a first-year student. Her research focused on gyrochronology, a method used to calculate a star’s age based on its rotation period and brightness variations.

“In simple terms, we use repeating brightness variations in a star’s light curve, often caused by starspots rotating in and out of view, to estimate how fast the star is rotating, and that rotation can be used as a proxy for age in certain stellar populations,” she explained.

“What drew me to this topic was the novelty and the idea that something as ‘small’ as extracting rotation from light curves can contribute to the bigger picture of how we date stars and understand stellar evolution.”

Research Across the Disciplines

At the beginning of 2025, Dori took on a research position at Embry‑Riddle's Laboratory for Solar-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Research (LASMIR), where she worked alongside a Ph.D. student to analyze extremely- and very-low frequency (ELF/VLF) whistler-mode wave data, or natural electromagnetic emissions in planets’ magnetospheres.

“Working at LASMIR was an important introduction to space physics research and helped me deepen my data analysis toolkit while becoming more comfortable in an academic research environment,” she said.

This research also led to professional opportunities. Dori attended the Polar Aeronomy and Radio Science (PARS) Summer School in Alaska, which included work at the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP).

She also had the opportunity to present research at the International Union of Radio Science’s annual National Radio Science Meeting in Colorado.

“These experiences made the space physics community feel real, accessible and incredibly tight-knit,” she shared.

Wanting to focus on engineering in addition to space physics, Dori also joined the Space Technologies Laboratory (STL) in early 2025, where she has assisted with “plate solving and distortion correction for star tracking in wide field-of-view imagery” for EagleCam 2.0, a miniature satellite whose predecessor became the first university student-built payload on the lunar surface.