Biography

Rebeka (Bumbi) Rocco is an Italian international student and a Doctoral Candidate in the Department of Sociology. She received her B.A. in Sociology, a B.S. in Criminal Justice, and certificates in criminal profiling and crime scene investigation at the University of Central Florida – she also completed her M.S. degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice at Florida Atlantic University.

Rebeka’s research interests include cybercrime perpetration, homicide, program success in correctional facilities, and gender in motorsports. Her interests also extend to qualitative and quantitative research methods, with her goal for the future to be involved in research while continuing to serve as an instructor and working with students to ensure success and independent thinking.

In her free time, she enjoys being involved with anything that has to do with drifting – which is where her interest in researching gender in motorsports stemmed from. Along with her PhD, she’s also been building her drift (race) car which she hopes to drive soon at the track. During this experience, her belief in ‘following your passion’ has become stronger, and she encourages anyone to do so as “anything is possible if you believe in yourself.”

Rebeka’s dissertation focuses on exploring pathways to cybercrime perpetration, in an effort to advance our current understanding of crime online.