Senior Success: Mia LoRe Heads to Bronx DA’s Digital Forensics Lab

After Mia LoRe walks across the stage at Commencement 2026, she’ll step right into a new career in digital forensics with the Bronx District Attorney’s Office.

This summer, LoRe will join the Bronx DA’s Digital Forensics Lab as a Digital Forensic Examiner II, examining digital evidence tied to criminal investigations.

Her role spans analyzing data recovered from phones, computers and online accounts — from text messages and call logs to social media activity and location records. The work also increasingly involves cybercrime cases tied to artificial intelligence.

“I’m excited to bring my passion for digital forensics from the private sector into public service,” said LoRe, a Wayne, N.J. native who double‑majored in Forensic Science and Law, Technology and Culture with a minor in Information Technology. “The science is objective, but it feels more meaningful knowing the work is being done on the right side of justice.”

Over the past four years at NJIT, LoRe has already made her mark in the field.

During a senior‑year academic co‑op with consulting firm eForensix, LoRe and two NJIT alumnae analyzed cellphone location data in the case of a Philadelphia man imprisoned for more than a year on fabricated charges.

The team’s work ultimately led to his exoneration, with all charges dismissed in July 2025.

“When someone’s freedom is on the line, you realize the real-world impact,” LoRe said. “It makes you step back from the technical side and understand what it actually means in people’s lives. Our findings had the power to exonerate someone. That proved to me that serving justice is the work I am meant to do.”

LoRe’s interest in forensic science began in high school at Passaic County Technical Vocational Schools’ Diana C. Lobosco STEM Academy, where she completed a hands-on forensics unit that included fingerprinting, anthropology exercises and even pathology labs using fetal pig necropsies.

“That’s when I realized forensics is the coolest applied science and that I can take my passion for science to help solve crimes and save lives — so I knew I wanted to study it in college,” she said. “NJIT was the only New Jersey college offering a major in Forensic Science, so I knew this was the place for me.”

She arrived intending to pursue forensic biology. But plans changed her sophomore year after she invited digital forensics expert John Lucich — who would later become her supervisor at eForensix — to campus while serving as seminar chair of the Forensic Science Student Association.

“That seminar was my first time really learning about digital forensics,” she said. “I immediately fell in love with the field.”

LoRe would also take the initiative to add a second major in Law, Technology and Culture to better understand the evolving legal and ethical questions surrounding digital evidence.

“Forensic science is essentially science as it applies to the law,” LoRe said. “Cyberlaw is still being created and established, and technology is changing exponentially. The law has to keep up to keep everyone safe online.”

Joining a field defined by emerging technologies, LoRe says one development stands out.

“Artificial intelligence — 100%,” she said. “It is extremely important that forensic operations, where a person’s freedom is potentially at stake, have humans running the show.

“On the other side of the coin, we’re seeing AI show up more and more as a component of cybercrimes,” she added. “Digital forensic examiners have to stay ahead of technological advances to understand how it’s being used for criminal purposes and how to investigate it.”

As she prepares to graduate, LoRe credits the forensic science program’s faculty — particularly Kevin Parmelee, David Fisher and Sara Zapico — along with Lucich, for shaping her journey. She also points to her biggest supporter at home — her mom. 

“Everything I’ve learned from them extends far beyond the classroom. They are the reason I am where I am today,” she said. “And to students just starting out: get involved. Join clubs, take on leadership roles, talk to the people sitting next to you in class. My involvement on campus shaped me both personally and professionally.” 

“Commencement represents all of my best memories and lessons in one day,” she added. “It defines my last four years as an NJIT undergrad.”