Sydney Shevat is a PhD student in the sociology program at the University of Tennessee – Knoxville. Her primary concentration is criminology, with a second concentration in environmental sociology. Sydney is also enrolled in the graduate certificate program for women, gender, and sexuality studies. Her areas of research include green criminology, critical criminology, reproductive politics, gendered violence, critical feminist theory, social activism/grassroots justice, abolition, and immigration. She was awarded a graduate teaching associateship, as well as the Isobel Griscom Fellowship. 

Sydney received her BS in criminology and criminal justice (2021) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) with minors in environmental sustainability, psychology, and German. She received her MS in applied criminology with an emphasis in transnational crime and justice (2023) from NAU. 

During her time in Flagstaff, she served as a local community organizer/activist for six years. Her feline babies, Femme and Poppy, also made the long trip from Arizona to Tennessee.