Roberto Rivera has a PhD in Sociology from the University of California, Riverside. His specialties are Criminology, Socio-Legal Studies, Science to Policy, and Environmental Studies. He is researching the increase in severe weather as it intersects with Crime. He is the 2018-2019 U.S. Fulbright Scholar recipient in Criminology for Jamaica and the Fulbright Specialist Award (2022-2025). He has presented in six countries and is working on a book on environment and crime.

Roberto’s critical criminological scholarship is unique as it comes from his work as a police officer of 20 years. In 2008, as an officer, he nationally presented and was recognized at the U.S. Department of Justice CCDO annual conference in Detroit, Michigan, for his Adelante Project initiative. Furthermore, his M.A. thesis has been picked up by Routledge Taylor and Francis as a chapter in Gringo Injustice. The American Bar Association and Esquire Kim Wright profiled him in Lawyers as Changemakers: The Global Integrative Law Movement; Bobby’s Story (2016) as making “positive contributions in policing.” He was among two nationally profiled non-attorneys for his “Holistic Policing” methods. He is additionally participating in research on lead poisoning as it impacts children in Colombia.

Roberto has over 30 years of experience serving on various nonprofit boards of directors. He served on the National Board of Directors of the National Marrow Donor Program (2004-2007) and coordinated two of California’s largest bone marrow campaigns. He is the founder and president of the Fulbright Association Inland Empire Chapter (2024). Additionally, Roberto has served in numerous high-level disaster relief efforts as a volunteer with the American Red Cross at the highest management level when in a disaster. He has responded to Hurricane Maria (2017), Hurricane Harvey (2017), Hurricane Florence (2018), the Camp Fire in Paradise, California (2018), the Puerto Rico Earthquakes (2020), and over 20 other natural disasters.