Shaneya Nyasia Simmelkjaer (also known as Nyah) was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. She holds a B.A. in criminology, a B.A. in political science and a B.A. in African American studies from SUNY Cortland. She is currently a Ph.D. student in the Sociology Department at Syracuse University, and her research interests include race/ethnicity, mass incarceration, the sociology of punishment, criminology and Black feminism.

Shaneya has much experience with social and racial justice advocacy, community-based research and policy-based research. She is looking forward to further developing her research skills and pedagogy.

Racial inequality, mass incarceration, the sociology of punishment, criminology, Black feminism