Layne Amerikaner is a University of Maryland sociology doctoral candidate and an editorial assistant for the Journal of Marriage and Family. Her research interests include intersectional approaches to studying health and well-being, LGBTQ families, work, and social inequality. Amerikaner is the co-author of Thinking Outside the Girl Box: Teaming Up With Resilient Youth in Appalachia, published by Ohio University Press in 2014. 

Prior to pursuing a doctoral degree, she worked as a writer and editor for multiple nonprofit and community-based advocacy organizations. She has a master's degree in public policy and gender studies from George Washington University, a master's degree in sociology from the University of Maryland, and a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Franklin & Marshall College. Her writing has been published in Social Science & Medicine, Contexts, The Nation, Ms. Magazine, and Huffington Post, among other outlets.