Janelle Ashley Viera is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Colorado State University. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Anthropology from Swarthmore College and received a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her interdisciplinary research incorporates theoretical insights from Sociology, Puerto Rican and Latine/a/o/x Studies, and Black Studies to explore racial formation among Latines. She uses both qualitative and mixed methods in her work. Janelle’s current project engages the debate over the changing U.S. racial system and Puerto Ricans' relative positioning within the American racial and socioeconomic landscape. Previously, she conducted research on the intergenerational and transnational effects of migration on return migrant families to Mexico. She has published her research in Ethnic and Racial Studies, Demography, and Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies. Her work has received funding from the Social Science Research Council, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at CUNY-Hunter College, UNC Chapel Hill’s Institute of African American Research, and other sources.

Janelle is a Mellon Mays Fellow, first-generation graduate student, and proud native of Queens, New York. She teaches courses on race and racism, intersectionality and Black feminism, and research methods. In 2025, she was awarded the College of Liberal Arts Excellence in Teaching award for her innovative pedagogy.