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Our Plenary Presenters
Carolyn Ball, Ph.D., is The Executive Director of the VRS Interpreting Institute (VRSII) in Salt Lake City, Utah. Before this position, Carolyn was as an Associate Professor of Interpreting and Director of the American Sign Language & Interpreting Program at William Woods University in Fulton, MO. Additionally, she was the Coordinator of the Interpreter Training Program at Salt Lake Community College.
She received her B.S., and her M.A. in Administration from Brigham Young University—then earned her Ph.D. in 2007 in Adult Education from Capella University. Carolyn’s research passion is the history of interpreter educators. She has served on the Conference of Interpreters Board for twelve years. Carolyn is the proud aunt of 17 nieces and nephews and spends her free time riding her Trek Madone road bike.
Dr. Ball presents on the topic of The Past is Prologue for the Future of Interpreter Education.
Melissa Malzkuhn is the Digital Innovation and Media Strategies Manager at the Science of Learning Center on Visual Language and Visual Learning at Gallaudet University, in Washington D.C. Visual Language and Visual Learning (“VL2”, vl2.gallaudet.edu) is a premier research center on how deaf children learn to read through using the visual modality, encompassing the following disciplines: neurocognitive science, biology, linguistics, psychology, socio-cultural, and pedagogy. Melissa Malzkuhn leads projects translating research findings into educational resources.
She was the Managing Editor of Deaf Studies Digital Journal (“DSDJ”, dsdj.gallaudet.edu), a peer-reviewed online digital journal in sign language, at Gallaudet University from 2008 to 2012. She currently serves as an Executive Editor, consulting on user experience and long-range plans of the journal.
Melissa Malzkuhn received her MA in Deaf Studies with a concentration in Cultural Studies from Gallaudet University. Her thesis was on the advocacy and community organizing of deaf youth in America, which led to the establishment of a national organization in 2008, Deaf Youth USA (“DYUSA”, www.dyusa.org), serving youth between the ages of 18-30. Melissa Malzkuhn also served on the board of the World Federation of the Deaf Youth Section from 2007 – 2011 (“WFDYS”, www.wfdys.org). An advocate of the human rights of deaf youth, Melissa Malzkuhn has helped organize national and international camps, given presentations and workshops on differing generations, deaf culture and history, global movement of deaf youth.
Currently, in her post-MA studies, she is pursuing knowledge through the Corcoran School of Art and Design to interact her interests in art and design to cultural experiences in order to explore the telling of interactive stories by transforming the digital or physical space. Melissa Malzkuhn started Motion Lab, a space for experimental media and interactive design, at Gallaudet University, to best explore new techniques in expressing ideas and creating stories for learning.
Melissa Malzkuhn presents on the topic of Digital Publishing of Sign Language: Technology, Content, and Strategies.
Dr. Mark Taylor is a nationally recognized educator, expert, consultant and speaker who is on the forefront of transformations in education practice. He is dedicated to helping schools, colleges and universities better understand and serve our students for learning, development, persistence and successful integration into the “after college” world. He also helps schools, organizations and companies work more effectively with the generational groups, especially our young people from "Generation NeXt". Building on almost 30 years of experience in higher education, management and the helping professions, Dr. Taylor’s has worked with over 300 schools in 42 states, and in Canada, made presentations at state, regional, and national events, and published in professional journals including his recent articles on "Teaching Generation NeXt". He has consulted with business clients like 20th Century Fox Motion Pictures, Wal-Mart, FEMA and the U.S. Army.
Dr. Taylor holds graduate degrees from the University of Arkansas and academic appointments at Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Graduate School.
For more information on Dr. Taylor, visit: www.taylorprograms.com.
Dr. Taylor presents on the topic of Meet Generation NeXt; Teaching Today’s Learners.
Our Opening Reception Speaker
Dr. T. Alan Hurwitz became the tenth president of Gallaudet University on January 1, 2010. Before coming to Gallaudet, Dr. Hurwitz was president of the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), one of eight colleges within the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) in Rochester, N.Y. Dr. Hurwitz also served as dean of NTID from 1998 to 2009, and as vice president and dean of RIT from 2003 to 2009.
Dr. Hurwitz’s career at RIT/NTID began in 1970 when he was hired as an educational specialist in RIT’s College of Engineering after working five years for McDonnell Douglas Corporation as an associate electronics engineer and senior numerical control programmer. Subsequent positions at RIT/NTID include support department chair for Engineering and Computer Science Programs, director for NTID Support Services, associate dean for Educational Support Services Programs, associate vice president for NTID Outreach and External Affairs, and associate dean for Student Affairs, and project director for the Northeast Technical Assistance Center, one of the four federally funded regional centers within the PEPNet (Postsecondary Education Programs Network). He has been a full professor at NTID since 1987.
During the course of his career, Dr. Hurwitz has been involved in a variety of professional and deafness-related organizations. He has served on the boards of several of these organizations, including the Rochester (N.Y.) School for the Deaf, of which he was also president. He is a past member of the board of directors of the National Captioning Institute. He is a past president of the National Association of the Deaf as well as a past president of the World Organization of Jewish Deaf. Dr. Hurwitz lectures extensively and has been widely published.
Dr. Hurwitz earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from Washington University at St. Louis, Mo., a master of science degree in electrical engineering from St. Louis (Mo.) University, and a doctor of education, curriculum and teaching, from the University of Rochester (N.Y.).
Dr. Hurwitz will speak at the Opening Reception on Wednesday evening.
Our Conference Presenters
Brief presenter biographies are listed here in alphabetical order by last name.
Erica Alley MA, NIC-Advanced, holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester in American Sign Language and English, as well as a Master’s degree from Gallaudet University in the field of Interpretation. Erica is a staff interpreter at Gallaudet Interpreting Service. Her research focuses on video remote ASL/English interpreting, including Video Relay Service (VRS) as well as Video Remote Interpreting (VRI).
Pauline Annarino, M.S., NAD V, GPC holds a degree in Rehabilitation Counseling from UW-Milwaukee. Pauline has nearly 40 years experience as an interpreter, interpreter educator, administrator and nonprofit advocate. Highlights include founder of the Health Care Interpreter Program (Minneapolis), Director of Program Development for the Greater Los Angeles Council on Deafness and Director of the Western Region Interpreter Education Center. During the past five years, Pauline, along with Dr. Linda Stauffer, has researched the topic of AA~BA Partnerships. Their work includes a two-set monograph series devoted to AA~BA Partnerships that reflect information gleaned from NCIEC AA-BA Summits, surveys and other research findings.
Emily Balzano: A native of Brooklyn, New York, Mel Balzano moved to Rochester in the fall of 2008, at the behest of her Deaf relatives, who had highly encouraged her interest in American Sign Language (ASL) from a very young age. Upon arriving at the University of Rochester, she declared her major in ASL almost immediately, and has since had the opportunity to study translation and interpreting independently with Patricia Clark, as has also worked as a theatrical interpreter at a local area high school. Mel hopes to continue onto to Gallaudet University in the Fall of 2012, to receive her Masters in ASL Interpretation.
Jimmy Beldon, CDI, MA, has been a professional involved in the interpreting field on many levels. Jimmy is the co-owner of Keystone Interpreting Solution, a consulting and interpreter referral business. Additionally, he teaches at the St. Catherine University in the Interpreter Education Program on the St. Paul, Minnesota. Mr. Beldon received his master’s degree in Deaf Education with an ASL Specialty from Western Maryland College. He is a nationally renowned interpreter educator. He is a popular presenter requested to travel across the United States giving workshops on a variety of topics. Jimmy has gain prominence as a certified deaf interpreter throughout the court system. He also provides consulting on issues of Deaf culture, communication needs, and working with deaf immigrants and/or refugees. Jimmy served on a national board for interpreters for 8 years and continues to volunteer his time to the National Registry of Interpreters, (RID).
Jessica Bentley-Sassaman has been working in the field of interpreting since 2001 after obtaining a B.S. in Interpreting for the Deaf from Bloomsburg University. She then attended Gallaudet earning her M.A. degree in Linguistics in 2006. She recently finished her Doctoral Degree in Education (Ed.D.) in January 2011. She has her CI & CT, SC:L, and Ed: K-12. Jessica currently teaches at Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania as an Assistant Professor and is the Program Coordinator. When Jessica is not teaching she still works as a freelance interpreter primarily in legal, governmental, and medical settings in Pennsylvania.
Laurie Bolster, Ph.D., has worked in support of the professionalization of K-12 interpreters since 1990. She initially began with the Colorado Department of Education, piloting the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) with its developers. Dr. Bolster was a co-author on early EIPA research. She continued her research in this area for her dissertation, which was entitled, “Time Compressed Professionalization: The Experience of Public School Sign Language Interpreters in Mountain-Plains States.” For the last 12 years, Dr. Bolster has worked with the UNC-DO IT Center in a variety of roles. She also trained and coordinated raters to use the EIPA and the Sign Communication Proficiency Interview. A certified interpreter since 1975, she currently practices in the Washington, D.C. area.
Doug Bowen-Bailey is a practitioner, mentor, resource developer and interpreter educator. In his work, he has partnered with numerous organizations. Most significantly, he has worked with the CATIE Center at St. Catherine University to create a series of CDs and DVDs, and then a number of online educational opportunities. Most recently, he has developed a series of online workshops entitled, “Body Language” focusing on developing skills to talk about anatomy in ASL. Doug has a chapter in In Our Hands (2012) edited by Laurie Swabey and Karen Malcolm entitled, “Just What the Doctor Ordered? Online Possibilities for Healthcare Interpreter Education.” With Patty Gordon, he was co-developer of the TIPS process to support educational interpreters in raising the quality of service in the classroom as well as meeting the licensure standards of their state. Doug lives in Duluth, Minnesota with his partner, Holly, their two children, Sylvie and Frost, and four chickens.
Kim Brown Kurz is the Chair for the Department of American Sign Language and Interpreter Education at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. She holds a Doctorate of Education in Deaf Education from the University of Kansas. Currently in press is the book, Deaf President Now: A civil rights movement, being published by Sign Media, Inc. She is also one of the authors of Standards for learning American Sign Language (ASL) in the 21st Century as part of the National Standards in Foreign Language Education Project.
Susan E. Brown, M.Ed., is the Administrative Coordinator for the University of Northern Colorado-DO IT Center. In addition to her administrative responsibilities, Ms. Brown has taught in the DO IT Center’s Educational Interpreting Certificate Program and she currently teaches in the Center’s ASL-English Interpretation program in the educational interpreting emphasis area. Ms. Brown worked for 14 years as an educational interpreter and she holds nationally recognized certification. She has served on the RID EIPA Task Force, the RID Educational Interpreter Committee, and most recently, Ms. Brown chaired the RID Educational Interpreter Task Force. In addition, she has been an invited presenter to state conferences because of her personal and professional experiences
Pamela Cancel, MS, CI, CT, NAD V is an instructor in the ASL/English Interpreter Program at Western Oregon University. She has been interpreting professionally for over 20 years. She received her B.A. in Interpretation: ASL/English from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and her M.S. in Deafness Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville. She is a national presenter on subjects of multicultural relations, interpreting skills development, and creativity.
Dr. Beth Carlson’s experience in the deaf community as a previous interpreter, in the public schools as a teacher of the deaf, and at the college level as an English and reading instructor of deaf students, and American Sign Language includes 30 years of teaching. She holds a Master of Science degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Florida and a Ph.D. in Second Language Acquisition and Instructional Technology, also from the University of South Florida. She has written and secured grants, received a number of teaching awards, and has presented at over 30 local and national conferences. Beth currently holds an American Sign Language Teaching Association (ASLTA) Qualified Level. Her scholarly interests include second language learning, writing and sign language linguistics.
Patricia Clark, MA, CSC - A native signer and RID certified interpreter of ASL and English, Patricia has worked as an interpreter, interpreter trainer, and consultant for over 35 years. At the University of Rochester, she works as a research associate & Designated Interpreter in the Sign Language Research Center, and instructor in the ASL Program with an emphasis on translation and sign language interpreting. Her work with ASL majors interested in interpreting led to the innovation of a collaborative approach to learning about processing through her Support Teaming Internship.
Her research interests are in translation as a result of her research on older forms of ASL and in the integration & application of spoken language models for interpreting and training. She has co-authored a chapter in two publications: Deaf Professionals and Designated Interpreters and Interpreting in Multilingual, Multicultural Contexts, with a book in press with co-author Ted Supalla on the history of ASL.
Elise Coco, MA, has been interpreting professionally since 2010. She earned her Bachelors of Arts degree in American Sign Language from the University of Rochester in 2008 and her Masters of Arts Degree from Gallaudet University in 2010. Elise’s primary research interests include the relationship between the Deaf community and interpreting community and issues surrounding teaming and the teaming process. Her passion for interpreting and teaming began while working with Patricia Clark at the University of Rochester during the 2007-08 academic year. Since relocating back to her home city of Rochester, NY she has become involved in mentoring interpreting students, allowing her to apply the innovative methods under which she was trained and to work with new graduating classes of interpreters. Elise is currently residing in Rochester, NY and is working as a staff interpreter.
Cathy Cogen has held teaching, consulting, and administrative positions in the Northeastern University American Sign Language Program since 1977. Currently, she is director of the federally-funded National Interpreter Education Center. In this role, she is responsible for coordination and evaluation of the activities of the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers, and for National Center initiatives focused on enhancing interpreting education program outcomes. In her “extra-curricular” life, Cathy organizes and advocates with the Massachusetts Deaf and Deaf-Blind Communities for policies and services they care about.
Dennis Cokely is currently Professor, Director of the ASL Program, and Chair of the Languages, Literatures and Cultures Department at Northeastern University and is the P.I. for the NIEC. For 15 years Dennis worked in various positions at Gallaudet University. From 1983 through 1987 he served as President of the RID. As President of Sign Media, Inc., he produced and/or directed over 350 videotape programs focusing on American Sign Language, Deaf Culture, and Interpreter Education. His publications include numerous articles, “The Green Books” (with Charlotte Baker-Shenk), Sign Language Interpreters and Interpreting and Interpretation: A Sociolinguistic Model that has been translated into German and Italian.
Pamela F. Collins, CI and CT, holds a BA in ASL from GU, and is a staff interpreter with GU Interpreting Services.
Betty M. Colonomos is the oldest daughter of Deaf parents and a fluent ASL/English bilingual. She is Director of the Bilingual Mediation Center. Her academic training has been in Deaf Education/Speech Pathology (undergraduate), Counseling (graduate) and Linguistics (doctoral). Betty was awarded the Masters Comprehensive Skills Certificate (MCSC) from RID in 1980. Betty is well known as an educator of interpreters and language consultant. In addition to developing the most widely used model for teaching processes used in interpreting, she has consulted with schools and the legal system as an expert on linguistic and cultural issues impacting the Deaf Community. Through her center, she provides services in the area of instruction, consultation, BiBi programming, cross-cultural mediation, language assessment interpretation, translation, curriculum development.
Quincy Craft Faber, B.A., NIC Master, has been interpreting for three years. She works full time as a freelance interpreter in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Quincy works primarily in medical settings but does a variety of post-secondary, business and VRS work, as well. She graduated in 2009 from St. Catherine University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in ASL/Interpreting. As a student, she collaborated with Paula Gajewski Mickelson to research how interpreter education programs teach ethical decision-making competencies to interpreting students. Currently, Quincy is passionate about mentoring interpreting students in order to assist them in transitioning from school to professional life.
Lydia Dewey, MA, NIC: Master, Lydia is a freelance interpreter currently working in Portland, Oregon. She is a graduate of Gallaudet University, earning her Master of Arts in Interpretation degree in 2009. Lydia received her BA degree in 2007, majoring in American Sign Language at the University of Rochester. She has conducted research on the effectiveness of Deaf/hearing interpreter teams in comparison to hearing interpreters working alone. Lydia was the first student to complete a Support Team Internship with Patricia Clark. That experience inspired her to pursue higher education in her study of interpreting. As a new professional in our field, Lydia is interested in teaming, mentoring and other skill-building processes that help interpreters reach their full potential.
Folami Ford, NIC Master, CI, CT, holds a BA (Maryville College) and MA in Interpretation (GU), and is an adjunct instructor in the Interpretation Dept. at GU, as well as a staff interpreter at GU Interpreting Services.
Vicki Darden works as an interpreter and interpreter educator in Oregon. She holds certification from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (CI/CT) and the National Association of the Deaf (IV – Advanced). She has a Bachelor of Science in ASL/English Interpretation with a minor in Anthropology, as well as an Associate of Arts with Certificate in ASL Interpreting. She is a candidate for the Master of Arts, Interpreting Studies, from Western Oregon University (WOU), anticipated December 2012. Her research focus is the impact of technology on Deaf/interpreting communities. She teaches part-time in WOU’s ASL/English Interpreting Bachelor’s degree program. She has served elected and appointed positions with RID at the local, regional, and national level. She was honored to be selected as a student representative to CIT at the 2002 Convention, and student representative coordinator in 2004. She thanks CIT for their encouragement on her journey.
Loriel Dutton, MA, NIC is an Interpreter II/Mentor Coordinator at GIS. She co-authored “Deaf adults' reasons for genetic testing depend on cultural affiliation: Results from a prospective, longitudinal genetic counseling and testing study”, in the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education. Presentations include co-presenting “Preparing for the New Wave of Healthcare: Interpreting Medical Genetics” at the RID Region V conference, 2008. Areas of expertise include mentoring interpreters and diagnostic assessment.
Lynn Finton is a Professor in the department of American Sign Language and Interpreting Education (ASLIE) at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID). She has a BA degree in Deaf Education/Elementary Education and completed her MS degree in Instructional Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology. She has been RID certified since 1981. She has worked at NTID for 31 years. She was previously a staff interpreter at NTID and an educator of the Deaf. Ms. Finton’s primary focus in her published work includes pre-interpreting skills development and ASL/English compression and expansion. She is actively involved in the field of interpreting and interpreting education, having served on local, state and national boards. She has presented numerous workshops in the field of interpreting throughout the country.
Folami Ford holds a Bachelor's degree in Sign Language Interpreting from Maryville College and a Master's degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University. She is currently a doctoral student in the PhD in Interpretation program at Gallaudet University. Her certifications include NIC Master, CI, and CT. She began interpreting in 1999 with an interpreting agency in the Washington-Metropolitan area. Her areas of interest include multicultural perspectives within the interpreting profession, mentoring interpreters, and teaching interpreting. Folami is a member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) and the National Alliance of Black Interpreters, Inc. (NAOBI, Inc.). In the not so distant future she hopes to get more involved with Deaf and interpreting communities of the African Diaspora.
Eileen Forestal, PhD, RSC, has been Coordinator and Professor of ASL/Deaf Studies and ASL-English Interpreting Programs at Union County College in Cranford, NJ for 33 years. She has recently joined as an adjunct the Master’s Program in Interpreter Pedagogy at University of Northern Florida. She earned her Ph.D. with a specialization in Postsecondary Education and Adult Learning from Capella University. Her dissertation was titled, “Deaf Interpreters: Exploring their Processes of interpreting.” She has been a certified Deaf interpreter with RID since 1979. A nationwide educator and consultant on ASL, Deaf interpreters, and interpreting topics, Eileen is a member of the National Consortium of Interpreter Education Centers’ Deaf Interpreter Work Team since 2006. She is also a published author of articles and research on interpreting, and co-wrote and co-directed a DVD production, Deaf Interpreting: Team Strategies, through Gallaudet University.
Jan L. Fried, MS, CI, CT is a Professor and the Coordinator of the American Sign Language/Interpreter Education Program at the University of Hawai'i- Kapi'olani Community College in Honolulu. She is also the co-coordinator of the Center On Responsive Education, a 4-year, federally-funded grant project that prepares educational paraprofessionals and interpreters to work in K-12 settings with children who are deaf/hard of hearing, disabled or are limited English proficient, and have complex needs. Jan holds a master's degree in Teaching Interpretation, is a trainer for the Hawai‘i State Judiciary and presents extensively throughout Hawai'i, Micronesia, Guam, Saipan, American Samoa and the mainland US on various issues related to Interpreter Education, Interpreting, and American Sign Language. She also is an interpreter in private practice.
Paula Gajewski Mickelson, M.A., CI, CT, NIC: Advanced, has been in the interpreting field for over 28 years. She holds degrees in Educational Interpreting, Human Service Administration / Human Resource Development, and a Master of Arts degree in Organizational Leadership with a graduate certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution. Paula currently serves as the chair of the ASL & Interpreting Department at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN. Her research interests are within the areas of ethical decision-making and alternative dispute resolution. Paula’s consulting experience includes working with organizations on issues related to conflict management, dispute resolution and organizational change. She has presented numerous workshops for interpreters on topics including but not limited to ethics and decision-making, dispute resolution, mentoring, and professionalism.
Daniel Greene, BA, CI & CT, NIC Master, has been a full–time interpreter since 1990. He has worked in many settings, including: Conference, K–12, postsecondary, medical, mental health, performing arts, social services, and VRS/VRI. He has specialized skills in interpreting for the deaf–blind and oral deaf. His love of arts and literature informs his work, and his passion for elevating the ASL interpreting profession drives him to study lesser-known aspects of our work and teach interpreters new skills. He began studying vague language (VL) in 2009, and has been presenting workshops on the subject ever since. His article “Just what they said: Interpreting intentionally vague language” was published in the RID Views Spring 2011. He is a graduate student in Western Oregon University’s Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies program with an emphasis in Teaching Interpreting, and will graduate in December 2012.
Kimberly Hale, Ed.D., CI, CT, NAD IV, ASLTA-Provisional, is an assistant professor in the ASL and Interpreter Education Department at Eastern Kentucky University. She teaches ASL and interpreting courses. As well as being nationally certified, Kimberly holds a Bachelor’s degree in Sign Language Interpreting from Maryville College in TN, a Master’s degree in Linguistics from the University of South Carolina and recently completed her dissertation on interpreting faculty members’ understanding of tenure requirements within their institutions in fulfillment of a doctoral degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Eastern Kentucky University.
CM Hall, Ed.M., NIC Advanced; EIPA Ed K: 12, is the project coordinator of the Western Region Interpreter Education Center at Western Oregon University. She holds a degree from Western’s ASL/English Interpreting program and completed their former one-year interpreter training program. She holds a Master's in Education from Oregon State University in College Student Services Administration. Her work experience includes K-12, post-secondary, platform and Deaf-Blind interpreting. CM is a member of RID’s national Diversity Council, and serves as chair of BLeGIT, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Member Section, and is secretary for the Deaf-Blind Member Section. CM has served her Oregon RID most recently as president and former vice-president. Among her professional responsibilities, she actively contributes to the National Task Force on Deaf-Blind Interpreting, and trains educational interpreters on Guam and Saipan who have limited access to professional development opportunities. CM is the conference co-chair for CIT 2014 in Portland.
Sarah Hewlett is a staff interpreter for Western Oregon University and is also in the university’s Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies program. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Special Education and Rehabilitation with an Emphasis on Deaf Studies and focus in Educational Interpreting in December of 2007 from the University of Arizona. She is nationally certified and has worked in K-12, community college, and video relay service settings before deciding to develop her career at the university. She hopes to become a mentor, instructor, and continue to be a practicing professional.
Kathleen C. Holcombe, holds a Bachelor’s degree in ASL-English Interpretation with a minor in Deaf Cultural Studies including a study abroad at Hogeschool Utrecht, Holland from the National Technical Institute for Deaf at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is currently enrolled in the MA in Interpreting Studies program at Western Oregon University. Her thesis project is on identifying the unique demands and controls in the multidimensional role of video relay service interpreters.
Danielle Hunt from Corpus Christi, Texas, has been interpreting professionally since 2000 and has been a staff interpreter at Gallaudet Interpreting Service since October 2009. Prior to joining on as staff at GIS, she served as owner of Bay Area Communications in her hometown where she worked as a full-time interpreter, scheduler, mentor and manager. She worked as a staff interpreter for Sign Language Associates and later as a free-lance interpreter for Purple Communications, Inc. in the Metro DC area. She holds both a Texas Board for Evaluation of Interpreters Level III (BEI Level III) and NAD/RID's National Interpreter Certification: Advanced (NIC: A). She has earned an Associate of Arts in Applied Science degree in Interpreting and an Associate of Arts degree in Sociology from Del Mar College, a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology (with a minor in Children’s Theater) from Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi, and a Master of Arts degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University.
A Chicago native, Leana Jelen moved to Rochester in 2006 with the specific goal of majoring in ASL at the University of Rochester, where her interest in ASL and Deaf Studies really soared. It wasn’t until her independent work with Patricia Clark that her interest in the rich complexity of interpretation began. Currently, Leana is pursuing her Master’s degree in Interpretation at Gallaudet University while working within the community as a freelance interpreter.
Leilani J. Johnson, Ed.D. is the Director of the Distance Opportunities for Interpreter Training Center at the University of Northern Colorado, the UNC-DO IT Center. The Center administers an ASL-English Interpretation bachelor’s degree program and several professional certificate programs that are delivered via distance technologies to interpreter-students throughout the United States. Dr. Johnson has been awarded more than $16M from federal grants and partnership contracts since establishing the Center’s work in 1993. She has held RID certification since 1983, and she is a recognized author and presenter in the field of sign language interpreting. Dr. Johnson has a master’s degree in adult education with an emphasis in teaching ASL-English interpretation, and a doctorate in instructional technology and distance education. Recent research projects have focused on educational interpreting, VRS/VRI interpreting and two-to-four year articulation models.
Dr. Bernhardt Jones taught sign language interpreting classes for 20 years. Most of this experience is in traditional face-to-face (F2F) classes at Johnson County Community College in Kansas. In addition, for 5 years, he taught educational interpreters from 12 different states in both F2F and distance learning classes within the Educational Interpreting Certificate Program (EICP), housed at Front Range Community College in greater Denver, Colorado. Since 2002 Dr. Jones has been Director, Training and Assessment Systems for K-12 Educational Interpreters (TASK12). In 2009, he created the Training of Interpreters in Public Schools Project (TIPS) and continues to direct these two projects within the Technical Assistance for Excellence in Special Education Center at Utah State University. Dr. Jones currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for the Arizona Schools for the Deaf and the Blind.
Stephanie Jo Kent- Steph’s career in sign language interpreting began in the early 1990s as a member of the BiBi Committee at the Indiana School for the Deaf. She received expert training in ASL Studies and Sign Language Interpretation from Deaf teachers and RID certified interpreters before realizing she actually wanted to be an interpreter! Her main motivation is activism in support of human diversity and social justice. Steph is in the process of building an online Learning Lab for Resiliency™ as a platform combining education and training on selected topics (CEUs!) with action research into group processes geared toward cultivating collective intelligence. Currently, Steph is working on assessing and making recommendations on emergency communications between First Responders and Deaf Americans and is a member of the RID Working Group on Emergency Management Interpreting. Hopefully she will earn her PhD in Communication (subfield: Language and Social Interaction) from UMass Amherst in 2013!
Greta Knigga is the coordinator and faculty advisor for the Sign Language Interpreting (SLI) and American Sign Language (ASL) Programs at Wright State University (WSU). She has taught ASL for over 10 years. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Purdue University completing her dissertation on The Role of Language Program Directors on the Articulation of American Sign Language Foreign Language Programs. She hopes to graduate this summer.
Martin Koob has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and is a graduate of Red River Community College Interpreter Training Program. He currently works part time as a trainer in the Canadian Hearing Society’s Interpreter Internship Program in Toronto, Ontario and has been with that program since its inception in 2003. He has twenty-four years of experience as an interpreter in community, post-secondary education and government settings and has achieved the AVLIC Certificate of Interpretation (COI). He is also a software developer and has developed VideoLinkwell, an application for use in interpreter education programs that allows the capture and subsequent annotation of video of student performances with text and video comments.
Robert G. Lee, MA, CI/CT is Senior Lecturer in Deaf Studies at the University of Central Lancashire (UK) and is Course Leader for the MA and Postgraduate Diploma in BSL/English Interpreting. He has been interpreting, teaching and researching for over 25 years. . He is the author or co-author of numerous articles and book chapters on various aspects of linguistics and interpreting from cognitive processing to the syntax of ASL.
Peter Llewellyn-Jones began to specialize in community and conference interpreting in 1970. In the mid ‘70s he coordinated the British Deaf Association’s Standing Conference on Interpreter Training and, in 1981, became a founder member of the UK’s Register of Interpreters. He is a Senior Teaching Fellow and Program Director at the postgraduate Centre for Translation Studies at the University of Leeds (UK) as well as a contributor to the Postgraduate Diploma in Interpreting at the University of Central Lancashire.
Daniel Maffia obtained his bachelors degree in American Sign Language/English Interpreting with a minor in Communication from the National Technical Institute for the Deaf at the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2009. In 2010 he become nationally certified. He is currently enrolled in Western Oregon University’s Masters in Interpreting Studies with an emphasis in Teaching Interpreting with expected graduation December 2012. He has work experience in a wide variety of settings including but not limited to post-secondary education, VRS, and community. He has shown his commitment to the field by serving on the board of directors for his local affiliate RID chapter for the past two years. In addition, he has been a mentor to both practicum students and colleagues. Currently, Daniel is serving as adjunct faculty in the American Sign Language and English Interpreting Department at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf.
Laura Maddux, NIC Advanced, holds an AAS in Interpreting, BA, and MA in Applied Linguistics. She taught English at Bahcesehir University in Turkey for a year.
Karen Malcolm is a Canadian certified interpreter and interpreter educator who has been interpreting for 30 years, specializing in mental health and medical settings for the last 18. She has been teaching interpreting to both novice and experienced interpreters for 21 years, in both Canada and the US. She holds a Masters of Science in Education (Teaching Interpreting). She is the co-editor (along with Laurie Swabey) of In our hands: Educating healthcare interpreters (Gallaudet University Press, 2012).
Elisa M. Maroney, completed her Ph.D. in Linguistics at the University of New Mexico in 2004. Her research was on aspect in American Sign Language. Her current research interest is in examining the nature of the gap between graduation and certification. She has been a faculty member in the Division of Special Education since 1993, where she teaches in the undergraduate ASL/English Interpreting and Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies programs. She is a Commissioner and serves as the President of the CommissiononCollegiateInterpreterEducation
AmyRuth McGraw has been an instructor in the American Sign Language Program at the University of Iowa since 2005 where she teaches ASL courses, Introduction to Interpreting and Deafness in the Media. Currently pursuing her MA in Interpreting Studies at Western Oregon University, Ms. McGraw has been interpreting in community, education, post-secondary and government settings since 1993 and is certified by the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf. Ms. McGraw also holds an MFA in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University.
Stephanie Meadows is an EIPA certified collegiate and freelance interpreter in the greater Sacramento region of California. She earned her Associates Degree in Sign Language Interpreting from American River College, Sacramento, and then her Bachelor of Arts in Intercultural Communication from California State University, Sacramento. Currently, she is in the process of earning her Masters of Arts in Interpreting Studies from Western Oregon University. Both as an undergraduate and as a graduate student, Stephanie has focused on studying transition shock and how it changes the human experience. Stephanie grew up travelling extensively with her family and has been to nearly twenty countries across five continents. Her own experiences with culture shock during her travels helped to shape her current fascination with transition shock of all kinds including her thesis topic, real-world shock experiences of new interpreters.
Melanie Metzger is Professor and Chair in the Interpretation Department at Gallaudet University. She is an interpreter practitioner, an interpreter educator, and her research focuses on sociolinguistic examinations of interpreted interaction. Her publications include, Sign Language Interpreting: Deconstructing the Myth of Neutrality, as well as journal articles such as Salient Studies of Signed Language Interpretation (published in English and Portuguese), and is co-editor of the series Studies in Interpretation published by Gallaudet University Press, where she aims to provide a forum for scholars of interpretation. Dr. Metzger has co-authored the BAI curriculum and MAI revised curriculum at Gallaudet, and has served as primary author on the PhD in Interpretation.
Annette Miner has a Master's degree in Psychology and an Educational Specialist degree from Western Michigan University. She has been interpreting for 25 years and teaching interpreting for 15 years in various types of settings. She taught full time at Salt Lake Community College and coordinated their interpreting program. She taught part time at interpreting programs in San Diego, California, directed and taught courses in an online grant program to deliver education to interpreters working in K-12 settings, and has worked as a mentor for working, pre-certified interpreters. She has served for over 10 years on the Board of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers as President, Regional Representative, and currently, as Director of Research and Publications. She holds a Certificate of Interpretation and a Certificate of Transliteration from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, National Interpreter Certification (Master Level) and Professional certification from the American Sign Language Teachers Association.
Kathy Miraglia has more than 30 years of experience as an interpreter, manager, and educator in the field of sign language interpretation. She managed the Interpreter Services Program at the University of Rochester Medical Center for 23 years before joining the full-time faculty at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in fall 2009.
Jemina Napier has been a signed language interpreter for over 20 years, and an interpreter educator for over 15 years. She holds a Ph.D. in Linguistics, and is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, where she is Director of the Centre for Translation & Interpreting Research. She is the author of Sign Language Interpreting: Linguistic Coping Strategies (2002) published by Douglas McLean, and co-author of Sign Language Interpreting: Theory & Practice in Australia and New Zealand (2006, 2010, Federation Press). She has published over 40 book chapters and articles discussing aspects of signed language interpreting and interpreting pedagogy, and is editor of the International Journal of Interpreter Education published by CIT.
Gustavo Navarrete-Guastella, MA. is a nationally certified interpreter, originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Gustavo began his interpreting education under the tutelage of Patricia Clark, utilizing the support team internship (STI) approach. He has a Bachelor's degree from the University of Rochester in American Sign Language and a Master of Arts degree in Interpretation from Gallaudet University. He has experience working in a variety of settings and specializes in trilingual interpreting of ASL/Spanish/English. Gustavo has conducted research on and specializes in understanding the trilingual interpreting process and the unique multicultural/multilinguistic aspect of this area of interpreting.
Alex Jackson Nelson, B.S., NIC is currently a Master of Social Work student at Gallaudet University. He has fifteen years of experience working for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer/Questioning and/or Intersex (GLBTQI) community. Alex has been educated as a Master Trainer through the National Association of Social Workers and Lambda Legal. He provides trainings and consulting to service providers and administrators on cultural competency when working with GLBTQI and other marginalized communities. Alex has direct service experience working with youth, was the executive director of non-profit agency, and worked as a senior policy advocate in the public policy arena. He is a consultant and trainer for ConsiderIt Communications and has been employed part-time as a professional sign language interpreter for eight years. Alex is currently conducting a community needs assessment for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind GLBTQI community in the DC metro area.
Tamar Jackson Nelson, M.A., CI & CT, NIC Master, is an adjunct professor for the Department of Interpretation as well as a student in Gallaudet University’s Ph.D. in Interpretation program (pedagogy/research). Before moving back to Washington D.C., to attend Gallaudet, she worked as an adjunct professor for Saint Paul College – A Community & Technical College, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in their Sign Language Interpreter/Transliterator program. Tamar values and enjoys presenting, and teaching, to promote growth, development, and respect of the interpreting profession. Workshop topics she has presented on include omissions, processing time, medical interpreting and others. She and her partner have conducted research within the GLBTQI Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities, regarding signs and vocabulary used when describing various individual identities, and they continue to present the results at various venues. Tamar has also worked as a certified community interpreter, mentor, ER on-call manager & interpreter, VRI & VRS interpreter.
Emily Ott is an interpreter in Columbus, Ohio. She holds a bachelor’s degree in interpreting from Goshen College in Indiana, and she is currently pursuing a master’s degree in interpreting studies with a concentration in teaching interpreting at Western Oregon University. Her thesis will be a qualitative investigation of intergenerational conflict among interpreters. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Columbus State Community College since 2010, teaching interpreting theory courses. A full time interpreter at The Ohio State University, Emily holds national certification and has a variety of community interpreting experience.
Samantha J. Paradise graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in ASL-English Interpretation. Since then, she has worked in post-secondary and community settings in Rochester, NY and Long Island, NY. Currently, she is a student in the Master’s in Interpreting Studies Program at Western Oregon University. Her thesis will focus on defining and exploring Customer Service as unique role within the environment of Video Relay Interpreting. She became nationally certified in 2011 and spends her time working as a freelance interpreter at RIT and a video interpreter at Sorenson VRS.
Carol J. Patrie, Ph.D., CSC, SC: L, CI, CT. Patrie is a national and international consultant on interpretation and teaching interpretation. She serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Interpreter Education and The Journal of Interpretation. She is a past president of the CIT and is a recipient of the Mary Stotler Award. She was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Faculty award at Gallaudet University where she was professor and director of the MA in Interpretation. Patrie is the author of the seven-volume series, The Effective Interpreting Series and the video series, Interpreting in Medical, Legal, and Insurance Settings, all published by DawnSignPress. Her most recent release is The Effective Interpreting Series: Cognitive Processing in ASL. She is currently developing a multi-media package focusing on fingerspelled word recognition as well as the 8th volume in the EIS, Translating from ASL, both of which will be released in 2012.
Karen Petronio, who has a doctorate in linguistics, is a professor and tech liaison with the Department of ASL and Interpreter Education at Eastern Kentucky University where she teaches interpreting and linguistics. In addition, she serves on the Commission for Collegiate Interpreter Education. She is interested in the creation of digital instructional materials and her research interests include linguistic features of ASL, the use of space in ASL, sociolinguistics and discourse analysis.
Geoffrey S. Poor is a Professor of ASL at NTID. He holds Professional Level ASLTA certification, an M.S. degree in second language teaching, and an A.A.S. degree in interpreting, and is the creator and project director for the ASL Video Dictionary and Inflection Guide. He is the coordinator of the office that assesses the ASL skills of NTID faculty, staff and graduate students, and the coordinator of the National Sign Language Proficiency Interview: ASL Leadership Board, which monitors and guides the national SLPI: ASL effort. He has conducted training and workshops all over the US, and recently at institutions in South Africa and Holland. He is currently working on a project to improve access to social services for deaf people in remote areas of Rwanda. He believes that many of the world’s problems would be less troublesome if people paid more attention to baseball.
Stacey Rainey, CI and CT, graduated from Western Oregon University’s Interpreter Training Program in 2002, as well as a second Bachelor’s degree in Speech/Communication. She has been interpreting in the post-secondary setting for 10 years and VRS for seven years. Stacey is currently pursuing her Master’s degree at Western Oregon University in their Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies (MAIS) program and will graduate in December of 2012. Her interests within the interpreting profession include the topics of teaming and communication between interpreters to make working together an experience of growth and learning. Stacey also enjoys mentoring interpreters who are entering the field. Stacey currently lives in Monmouth, Oregon with her husband, Josh and their two daughters--Maggie and Clara, who are the joy of their life.
Miako (Villanueva) Rankin, PhD, CI/CT is an assistant professor in the Department of Linguistics at Gallaudet University. She has been interpreting professionally for 10 years, working primarily as an independent contractor and specializing in advanced educational, government, business, religious, and performing arts settings. Miako teaches undergraduate and graduate level interpretation and linguistics courses. She has also provided numerous workshops on linguistic and interpreting topics, including Visualization & Conceptual Blending, Constructing Dialogue and Action Through Blends, Variation in ASL, and Ethics of Expansion for Deaf Interpreters. She specializes in applied linguistics – incorporating the knowledge, approaches, and understandings gleaned from linguistic research of ASL directly into interpretation and language teaching.
Len Roberson, Ph.D., SC: L, CI, CT, has been involved in the fields of deaf education and interpreting for 23 years. He is an active researcher, interpreter, and interpreter educator. Dr. Roberson is currently the Dean of the Graduate School at the University of North Florida and Assistant Vice-President of Academic Technology, overseeing distance learning. He is a tenured Associate professor. Since joining UNF in 1998, he has received more than 3 million dollars in external funding as the principal investigator for numerous grants. His current research interests include the study of interpreting in legal settings, teacher effectiveness and preparation, and service learning in interpreter education. He has presented numerous papers and workshops in North America and abroad. He is co-editor for the Journal of Interpretation published by RID. He resides in Jacksonville, Florida with his beautiful wife and seven beautiful children, 4 girls and 3 boys.
Marika Robinson, an American Sign Language lab coordinator in the Sign Language Interpretation Program at Saint Petersburg College, is recognized in the Deaf community for her exemplary leadership and active involvement with several organizations. A native of Czechoslovakia, Robinson holds a bachelor’s degree in interpreting from the University of South Florida, a master’s degree in teaching from Grand Canyon University, and holds a Professional American Sign Language Teacher’s Association certificate. Marika moved to the United States in 1996, and became a U.S. citizen in 2003. Marika is fluent in several languages, including: Slovak Sign Language (native), Slovak, Czech Sign Language (native), Czech, Hungarian Sign Language, Ukrainian Sign Language, Austrian Sign Language, American Sign Language, and English.
Jeni Rodrigues has a Master's degree in Education from Northeastern University with a specialization in Interpreting Pedagogy, a Bachelor's degree in Women's Studies from California State University Long Beach and she was just accepted into the PhD Interpreting program at Gallaudet University. Jeni has worked as an interpreter for the past fifteen years and holds a Certificate of Interpretation and a Certificate of Transliteration from the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, as well as Advanced certification from the National Association of the Deaf. She has spent the last several years as a VRS center manager at Sorenson Communications training and mentoring interpreters. Jeni began her teaching career at Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California as an adjunct faculty intern and was recently hired as full time faculty at the VRS Interpreting Institute in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Phyllis Rogers, MA, CSC, NIC-Master, SC: L, is an Interpreter III/Mentoring Program Lead at Gallaudet University, Gallaudet Interpreting Service, (GIS), and a PhD student in the Department of Interpretation. She developed and implemented the “Results! Mentoring Program” at GIS and has presented at local and national levels on topics including assessment, rubrics, and mentoring. Publications include “Sign language interpreting in testing environments”, in Assessing Deaf Adults, Martin and Mounty, ed., Gallaudet University Press, 2009.
Cynthia B. Roy has been an interpreter and interpreter educator for over thirty years. She holds the Ph.D. in Sociolinguistics from Georgetown University, and is a professor in the Department of Interpretation at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. She is the author of Interpreting as a Discourse Process (2000) published by Oxford University Press, and she has published articles in the RID Journal of Interpretation, Multilingua, Interpreting, and The Translator. Dr. Roy is the series editor of Interpreter Education published by Gallaudet University Press.
Daniel Roush is an Assistant Professor at Eastern Kentucky University’s Department of ASL and Interpreter Education where he has taught since 2006. He has published articles on politeness in ASL and the conduit metaphor in ASL.
Dr. Debra Russell is the Director of the Western Canadian Centre of Deaf Studies and holds the David Peikoff Chair at the University of Alberta. Her interpreting practice spans over thirty years and continues to be community based across a range of settings. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she maintains an active research program, with current projects that focus on interpreting in educational contexts, Deaf interpreters, legal interpreting, and the documentation of Ukrainian Sign Language in collaboration with the Institute of Special Pedagogy in Kyiv, Ukraine. Dr. Russell is recognized internationally for pioneering efforts in the field of sign language interpretation. She is extensively published on topics that include comparison of simultaneous and consecutive interpreting, team interpreting, advocacy, ethics, mediated education, and interpreting in legal settings. She is the author of Interpreting in Legal Contexts: Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretation and the co-editor of Interpreting in Legal Settings.
Roberto Santiago CI/CT, has been interpreting since 1998 and is an interpreter, writer, and researcher living in Washington, D.C. Originally from California, Roberto is a graduate of the Deaf Studies program at California State University Northridge (B.A., Interpreting) and Gallaudet University (M.A. Interpretation). Roberto is currently a student in the Department of Interpretation PhD program at Gallaudet University. Roberto’s research on interpreting has been published in the “Studies in Interpretation Series” (Santiago and Barrick, 2007) and Sign Language Studies (2012). He has presented his research regionally as well as at the RID National Conference and the Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics, and the annual meeting of the American Dialect society. Roberto’s writing on other topics has appeared in Latina and other magazines as well as online.
Trudy Schafer, MIP, MPA, CSC, CI/CT, is the project coordinator for the National Interpreter Education Center at Northeastern University. She has been a practicing interpreter since 1976 and an interpreter educator since 2002. Trudy has served as president of Children of Deaf Adults International and two state chapters of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf: Illinois and Massachusetts.
Amy Seiberlich, M.A., is an interpreter educator and leadership consultant. She has developed and taught interpreter related coursework for Regis University, and she has developed and currently teaches leadership and supervision coursework for interpreters for the University of Northern Colorado’s DO IT Center. She is the founder of the Leadership Institute, a company devoted to providing innovative, online educational opportunities for interpreters working in a variety of venues. Ms. Seiberlich is a former RID National Board Member and author of a leadership column published in the RID VIEWS. She has written nearly 50 original topics, presented throughout the US and Canada in a variety of formats, which address the management of our thought processes and relationships and the subsequent impact on our work as interpreters. In addition to teaching and presenting, Ms. Seiberlich interprets in a post-secondary setting in Edmonton, Alberta.
Laurie Shaffer, MS, CI & CT, NIC-A, EIPA 4.5 has held national certification for 22 years and has taught about various aspects of the profession in 4 year degree programs, continuing education seminars and professional workshops. Her particular areas of interest are critical thinking and decision-making, dialogic mentoring and the maximization of cognitive processes. Currently she is staff interpreter at University of Virginia and Director of the “From a Distance…” tutoring and mentoring program for educational interpreters. A colleague and dear friend once described her as an interpreter educator, mentor, and life-long mentee striving to create positive change for the field. She resides in rural Nelson County VA with her partner of 28 years where the saying goes – If you are lucky enough to live in the mountains, you are lucky enough.
Risa Shaw, Ph.D., CSC, CI, SC: L, is an interpreter and interpreter educator who has been interpreting for 30 years, specializing in legal settings for much of her career. She is Associate Professor at Gallaudet University in the Department of Interpretation. Her research interests include the study of ASL and English narratives in disclosures stories across contexts. She is one of three principal researchers who conducted a study of North American interpreters in legal settings. She co-authored curriculum on interpreting in legal settings that is used throughout the US, the BA curriculum and revised MA curriculum at Gallaudet, and contributed to the Ph.D. curriculum in interpretation at Gallaudet. Risa is a highly sought after teacher of interpreters and educators of interpretation and translation, consultant, and interpreter. She has based her practice and lived in the Washington D.C. area since 1981, and when not teaching or interpreting she is an avid soccer player!
Sherry Shaw, Ed.D., CSC, has been an interpreter educator for 23 years and is Associate Professor and Program Director for the bachelor’s and master’s degrees in ASL/English Interpreting at the University of North Florida. Her research interests include interpreting student cognitive and motivational characteristics, community-based learning in interpreter education, social connectedness of Deaf children and senior citizens, interpreting student aptitude, and evidence-based admission testing. She serves as co-editor of the Journal of Interpretation and is a reviewer for the Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship. She was awarded an Oscar Muñoz Presidential Professorship at UNF for 2011-2013. Dr. Shaw is author of Service-Learning in the Deaf Community and A Student’s Guide to Service-Learning in the Deaf Community, which will be published by Gallaudet University Press in 2013, and serves as Proceedings co-editor for the Conference of Interpreter Trainers
Linda Siple is the Director of the BS degree program in ASL-English Interpretation at NTID a college of the Rochester Institute of Technology. Dr. Siple received her PhD from the University of New York in the area of Intercultural Communication. She has been at NTID for over 30 years and has taught in the areas of interpreting internship, performing arts interpreting, transliterating and ASL to English Interpretation.
Paulson Skerrit is a doctoral student in the Literacy program at the University of Tennessee. His research involves literacy development for Deaf readers, and the Trinidad and Tobago Sign language corpus project with The University of The West Indies and teaching interpreting.
Amanda Smith has been an Assistant Professor at Western Oregon University since 2007. She coordinates and teaches in the undergraduate ASL/English Interpreting and the Master of Arts in Interpreting Studies programs. In 2007, Amanda completed her MA in Interpreter Pedagogy at Northeastern University. Over the years, she has specialized in post-secondary interpreting (post-graduate coursework) and then in 2004 began pursuing an additional specialization in legal interpreting. Through the course of her career Amanda has worn multiple hats, in addition to interpreter, that of mentor, faculty member, RSA project coordinator, and trainer. From all angles, this work is fascinating and fulfilling. Amanda lives in Keizer, Oregon with her husband, Mike, and sons, Tobias and Avery. Though her passion for interpreting and education is fairly time consuming, she does enjoy crocheting, reading, and time with her family.
Melissa Smith, Ed.D. RID CI/CT, NAD V, EIPA 4.9. Melissa is the director of the ITP at Palomar College. She earned doctoral and Master’s degrees in Teaching and Learning from the University of California, San Diego. Her dissertation, “More than Meets the Eye: Revealing the Complexities of K-12 Interpreting,” explores the practices and decisions of interpreters working in public schools. She is on the board of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Education Committee for the San Diego School District. Melissa developed curriculum and taught classes to improve the qualifications of K-12 interpreters and graduate classes on the acquisition of sign language. She has presented at CIT, ASLTA, RID conferences, Indiana’s conference on Deaf education, and various educational institutions. Her chapter Opening Our Eyes: The Complexity of Competing Visual Demands in Interpreted Classrooms appears in Ethical Considerations in Educating Children Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (Christensen, K., 2010).
Richard T. “Smitty” Smith is the Curriculum Support Coordinator for the department of American Sign Language and Interpreting Education (ASLIE) at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf. He is primarily responsible for supporting faculty; developing digital curricula, substitute teaching, and, tutoring interpreting students. Smitty has been interpreting over thirty years and has worked in settings from education and conferences to 12 Step meetings and the theatre. ”Smitty” has taught interpreting classes at NTID and has presented interpreting workshops around the country.
Linda Stauffer, Ph.D., CSC, OTC is the Coordinator of the Interpreter Education Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UALR), teaching since 1986. Linda has published articles on visualization, transliteration, and student self-evaluation; co-edited/-authored Toward effective practices: A National Dialogue on AA-BA Partnerships (2008, 2010), and Identifying Standards for the Training of Interpreters for Deaf People (1990). She was co-editor of the CIT News for 14 years. Linda served on the Board of Directors of RID (1995-2002) and CIT (1989-1991). She is a recipient of the RID/CIT Mary Stotler Award, the UALR College of Education’s Faculty Excellence Awards for Public Service (1994) and Teaching (2010).
Leah Subak is currently a staff interpreter/co-coordinator in Student Accessibility Services, adjunct faculty, and a doctoral candidate (ABD) in the Curriculum and Instruction Program at Kent State University. Leah has her BA in Speech Pathology and Audiology and her MA from Gallaudet University. She holds a certificate of Teaching ASL/ Teaching Interpreting from Project TIEM. Interpreting credentials include IC/TC, CI/CT, NAD, and EIPA. Leah has been interpreting since 1980 in a variety of settings: Post-secondary, corporate, community, and Video Relay. Presentations include workshops and conferences in Ohio and in the U.S. She has held various offices in professional interpreting organizations and has chaired several state and regional conferences.
Laurie Swabey is a Professor of Interpreting at St. Catherine University in St. Paul Minnesota. She has taught interpreting since 1980, both to signed language interpreters and spoken language interpreters. Her PhD is in Linguistics from the University of Minnesota and she has presented nationally and internationally on a variety of topics related to interpreting pedagogy and healthcare interpreting. Her latest publications include co-editing Advances in Interpreting Research with Brenda Nicodemus (Benjamins 2011), Referring Expressions in ASL Discourse (in Discourse in American Sign Language: Gallaudet University Press, 2011) and Educating Healthcare Interpreters with co-editor Karen Malcolm (Gallaudet University Press, 2012).
Myra Taff-Watson, MA, CSC will be representing the CCIE as Commissioner. Myra worked as the Director of the Interpreter Education Program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for 25 years from 1982-2006 where she was awarded over $8 million in federal grants for interpreter education and training activities covering a 5-state geographical area. She was also the recipient of Faculty Excellence Awards in Research & Scholarly Activities and in Public Service. Myra received numerous community and public service awards over the years, including the CIT/RID Mary Stotler Award. She continues service activities at the national and state level, as well as running her interpreting business of 26 years.
Marty M. Taylor, PhD, CSC, COI, is a widely known educator, consultant, interpreter, and publisher whose work is recognized internationally. Her educational materials are used by interpreting programs, educators, and interpreter practitioners throughout North America and abroad. She established the Interpreter Education Program at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She operates a publishing company, Interpreting Consolidated, which she created in 1993 to promote excellence within the field of sign language interpreting and provide consultation, evaluation, research, and publishing services to interpreting communities worldwide. Dr. Taylor is the author of two seminal texts used in over 100 interpreter education programs: Interpretation SKILLS: American Sign Language to English and Interpretation SKILLS: English to American Sign Language. Currently, she is researching and consulting on projects related to assessment and evaluation, video-relay interpreter competencies, material and curriculum development, distance learning and instructional delivery, provincial-wide mentoring program, as well as infrastructures to support interpreter educators and interpreter education.
Mary Thumann, PhD, CSC is an interpreter and interpreter educator who has been interpreting for over 30 years. She is an assistant professor in the Department of Interpretation at Gallaudet University, in Washington, D.C. where she has taught since 2004. Prior to being a member of the faculty, Mary worked as a staff and freelance interpreter and an adjunct instructor. Mary teaches a range of undergraduate and graduate courses, including Ph.D. courses on teaching interpreting. Her research interests include identifying depiction in language use and fingerspelling in American Sign Language. She has presented and co-presented on a number of topics including workshops on Identifying Depiction, Incorporating Depiction in Interpreting Work, Who is Doing What in Blends, Team Interpreting, Becoming a Certified Professional Interpreter, Interpreting with Confidence, Interpreting in Educational Settings, Interpreting in Mental Health Settings, and ASL to English for Codas.
Rafael Treviño is a native of Zolfo Springs, Florida; a small town where he helped run the family business of a Mexican bakery. He currently lives and works as a professional sign language interpreter in Miami and volunteers as a member of the City of Miami Beach Human Rights Committee. His family is originally from South Texas, and he is proud that his graduate studies now tie him back to his roots.
Lynne Wiesman, founder of Signs of Development, is the pioneer in professional development at a distance. Signs of Development specializes in mentoring, CEU-bearing WWWorkshops, certification preparation Independent Seminar Modules (ISMs), & self-analysis tools and processes. Lynne is currently a Professor in Austin Community College’s ASL, a freelance interpreter, mentor, and teaches business for DeVry University. Before moving back home to her native Texas to join the ACC ASLIT faculty, Lynne developed and administered the Troy University bachelor’s IPP online & on-campus and continues to teach as an adjunct.
Lynne has presented nationally and internationally on aspects of interpreting. Her presentation specialties are self-analysis, developing mentors and mentoring relationships, certification preparation, and ethical decision-making. Having previously taught in the Master Mentor Program, she has extensive experience in developing Mentor Trainers and sustainable mentoring projects & relationships. She holds an MBA and is A.B.D. working toward her Ph.D. in Training & Performance Improvement.
Kevin Williams has taught at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf for the last 4 years. Previous to this time, Williams was employed by Boys Town National Research Hospital, Omaha, NE, where he served as their Sign Language Communication expert. While at BTNRH, Williams (along with Dr. Brenda Schick) co-authored the Educational interpreter performance assessment.
Phyllis Perrin Wilcox is a full professor in the Department of Linguistics at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Her doctoral dissertation, "Metaphorical Mapping in American Sign Language" was passed with distinction. Related topics have been presented at international conferences in France, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Switzerland, and Tunisia. Phyllis established the baccalaureate degree in Signed Language Interpreting at UNM and is the current Director. She serves as an adjudicator in the RID Ethical Practices System, and is Vice President of the Commission on Collegiate Interpreter Education board. Phyllis holds the CDI and RSC.
Leandra Williams is Region III RID Representative with a history of experience
serving both her local affiliate (Illinois Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf - IRID) and RID. Within RID, she has served on the Motions Committee, RID/ITOC Secretary and Vice Chair, NAD/RID National Council on Interpreting (NCI) and 2003 RID Conference Co-chair. In addition, Ms. Williams is Past President of the National Alliance of Black Interpreters, Inc. (NAOBI, Inc.) and has also served that organization in a variety of positions both on a national level and with the state affiliate. She has also served on a variety of advisory boards, which address the interests of both sign language interpreters and members of the Deaf community. Ms. Williams currently works in private practice as a Sign Language Interpreter in postsecondary educational settings, community environments and Video Relay Services. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the ASL/English Interpretation Department at Columbia College (Chicago).
Betsy Winston is the Director of the Teaching Interpreting Educators and Mentors (TIEM) Center. Over the past 25 years, Dr. Winston has held a variety of roles, including professional interpreter, interpreter educator, educator of interpreting educators, linguist, researcher, curriculum designer, and administrator. She holds a Ph.D. from Georgetown University, an M.Ed. from Western Governors University, an MA from Gallaudet University, and a BA from Georgetown University. She also holds an AAS-Interpreting degree from Portland Community College and a Distance Education Graduate Certificate from the University of Wisconsin.
Anna Witter-Merithew, M.Ed., is the Director for the Mid-America Regional Interpreter Education Center at the University of Northern Colorado. She has been a practicing interpreter and interpreter educator/program administrator since 1975. Anna has served as President and Vice President of RID and Vice President of the Conference of Interpreter Trainers (CIT).
Kimberly Wolbers is an assistant professor and coordinator for Education of the Deaf and Educational Interpreting programs at the University of Tennessee. Her research centers on literacy instruction that is linguistically responsive to deaf and hard of hearing students, and encompasses decision-making processes of educational interpreters.
Amy Zenizo has worked as an interpreter for the deaf for over twenty years. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in deaf studies and currently pursuing her Master degree at Western Oregon University in interpreting studies. She has worked in K-12, video relay, and as a freelance interpreter in a variety of settings. She also has served her community as a Midwife working with growing families for more than 17 years. Amy works with interpreters developing special knowledge in this area to understand procedures in the hospital supporting women and families during childbearing years. She trains interpreters, assisting them in broadening their knowledge specifically about obstetrics, gynecology, and childbirth. She also enjoys traveling around the globe and learning about different cultures.
Jason Zinza is the author of MasterASL – Level 1 and soon to be MasterASL – Level II. He also authored the Fingerspelling and Number textbook and co-authored “The Elephant Game” with Dr. Kim Kurz. Jason is currently a doctoral student at Stanford University completing degree in Teaching Foreign Languages. He is the co-chairperson of the ASL Honor Society, an organization that recognizes high school students who are studying ASL, an affiliation of ASLTA.
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