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Presenter Biographies
Lauri Metcalf
Lauri Metcalf retired as the chair of the American Sign Language, Interpreting, World Languages, ESL and International Studies Department at San Antonio College in September of 2018. Lauri established the ASL and Interpreting program in 1994. Before coming to San Antonio, she was a teacher for the Deaf for 20 years and taught Interpreting and Deaf Education courses at the Post-Secondary Level. Lauri was a member of the Texas Board for Evaluation of Interpreters from ’95 to 2007 and served as Chairperson for 11 years. Since 2009, Lauri has worked as a consultant with the National Center on Interpretation at the University of Arizona and the Texas Board for Evaluation of Interpreters in the test development and the certification of sign language interpreters. Lauri continues to serve as the Coordinator and Lead Instructor for Rater Trainings as well as Summer Institutes and Workshop presenter.
Stephanie Rotheram
Stephanie Rotheram was certified in 2001, after graduating from the San Antonio Interpreter Training Program. She continued her studies, earning a Bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University, and a Master’s in Special Education, focusing on American Sign Language Interpreting, from the University of North Florida. She holds national certification, and the Texas BEI Master. She has provided in-house trainings for the San Antonio Independent School District interpreters, the Alamo College district interpreters, and has taught as an adjunct faculty for the San Antonio College (SAC) Interpreter Training Program. She is employed full-time as a Staff Interpreter for the Alamo Colleges, in San Antonio, and works as a freelance interpreter, as well as a Video Relay Service (VRS) interpreter.
Alaina Webb
Alaina has been an interpreter since 1989 and an interpreter educator since 2003. She holds BEI Master, Court, and Level IV certifications, as well as the RID NIC Advanced. She has a BA in General Studies from Texas Woman’s University and an MA in Applied Linguistics from Texas Tech University. Alaina has interpreted in multiple settings including medical, education, mental health, court and more. She has taught workshops across the state and the nation providing interactive workshops in a safe environment. She served as chair of the BEI Advisory Board for seven years and remains on the Advisory Board as a member. Alaina is the Chair of Languages at San Antonio College.
Kim Hunt
Kim Hunt is a Native Texan, and her new current position is program coordinator and professor for Tyler Junior College’s ASL and Interpreter Training Program. Her experience includes teaching and presenting on the local, state, national and international arena. She is Multi Certified under the Texas Board of Evaluators of Interpreters (BEI) and the National Registry of Interpreters (RID) holding a RID Master, BEI Court, Medical and Level IV as well as a CCHI Medical Core. Kim has been interpreting professionally for 39 plus years in various settings which includes, Legal, Medical, Mental Health, Video Relay Interpreting, Video Remote Interpreting, Deaf Blind, Education, Platform and Social Services. Two of her main goals are advocating for complete communication access for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community and assisting in training the next generation of interpreters.
Carla Shird, CDI
Carla Shird has been a Certified Deaf Interpreter (CDI) for over 8 years, with extensive experience conducting more than ten RID CEU-approved workshops and training, including PPO workshops. My work has consistently addressed diverse cultural audiences, including Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and LGBTQIA+ communities.
Jerrin George
Jerrin George (they/them/theirs) is a seasoned sign language interpreter and translator with over a decade of experience. Based in Washington, DC, they specialize in fostering linguistic and cultural accessibility while actively mentoring emerging interpreters. Jerrin’s work spans interpreting, translation, education, and consultancy, all with a focus on advancing equity and inclusion within the signing community. Outside of work, you’ll likely find them traveling the world, finding depth in places that make them feel small—but never insignificant.
Leilani J. Johnson, EdD, IC/TC, CI
Leilani J. Johnson, EdD, IC/TC, CI, is the architect and director of the DO IT Center, now the University of Northern Colorado, Department of ASL & Interpreting Studies (ASLIS). Serving residential and distance students, programs include ASL for Liberal Arts, an ASL Minor, a BA in ASL-English Interpretation, and an MA in Teaching ASL, along with professional development offerings. Since 1993, Dr. Johnson has been awarded approximately $25M in federal grants and partnership contracts. She was the Principal Investigator for the OSEP award that originally supported the studies included in this book, and she is the current Principal Investigator on the OSEP-funded PSI Project and the RSA-funded IRIS Project. Holding RID certification since 1983, she is a recognized author and presenter at state, regional, national, and international conferences. Her recent research projects have focused on educational interpreting, state employment standards for educational interpreters, and two-to-four-year articulation models. In 2016, Dr. Johnson was honored with a perpetual award instituted by the National Association of Interpreters in Education, the Leilani J. Johnson Leadership Award, and in 2018 she was designated as ASLIS Director Emerita (www.unco.edu/cebs/asl-interpreting).
Marty M. Taylor, PhD, CSC, COI
Marty M. Taylor, PhD, CSC, COI, is an educator, consultant, publisher, and interpreter, nationally certified in Canada and the U.S. She was the founding Chair of the Interpreter Education Program at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Her seminal works, Interpretation Skills: American Sign Language to English and Interpretation Skills: English to American Sign Language, are used in interpreting programs throughout North America. Currently, she is consulting with Sign Language Institute Canada as the lead researcher on the economy and industry of sign languages in Canada (ASL, langue des signes du Québec (LSQ) and Indigenous sign languages (ISL)). Dr. Taylor was the founding ASL-English Permanent Invitee for the Board of Directors of Canadian Administration for Video Relay Services. She continues to consult on projects related to program evaluation, educational interpreting, distance learning, and instructional delivery. Her publishing company, Interpreting Consolidated, promotes excellence within the field of sign language interpreting and provides consultation, evaluation, research, and publishing services to interpreting communities worldwide (www.ASLinterpreting.com).
Brenda Schick, PhD
Brenda Schick, PhD, is a professor emerita of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder. She studies the development of signed and spoken languages as well as its relationship to literacy and cognition in deaf and hard-of-hearing children. Her recent work has focused on the the development of literacy skills in young Deaf and hard of hearing students, particularly the role of fingerspelling promoting phonological awareness for signing children (funded by Institute of Education Sciences). She has studied the development of a Theory of Mind in Deaf and hard of hearing children and how it relates to language skills (funded by NIH). Dr. Schick is the co-developer of the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA), a tool designed to evaluate the skills of K-12 interpreters (funded by OSEP). With colleagues, she has published data about the performance skills of interpreters who work in the K-12 setting. She is also the developer of the EIPA Written Test, and the website dedicated to K-12 interpreting (www.classroominterpreting.org).
Laurie Bolster, PhD, CI/CT
Laurie Bolster, PhD, CI/CT, has been involved in the Deaf Community since the 1970s as a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor, CDE/Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind Outreach Consultant, certified ASL-English interpreter, and member of DO IT Center and University of Northern Colorado ASL & Interpreting Studies Department. In these roles, she has contributed to the field as a curriculum developer, teacher, researcher, Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment (EIPA) trainer and coordinator, conference presenter, and author, while continuing her freelance practice. Early in her career, Dr. Bolster developed a focus on evaluating and strengthening educational interpreters’ capability to deliver higher quality interpreting services for deaf and hard of hearing children, and as part of that passion, she was engaged in piloting the diagnostic use of the EIPA, initially for individual interpreters, and eventually the education system in the state of Colorado. Dr. Bolster’s dissertation research on transformational learning examined the impact of the accelerated shift toward professionalization of the educational interpreting field through the 1990s and early 2000s.
Emily G. Girardin, EdD, Ed:K-12
Emily G. Girardin, EdD, Ed:K-12, is an interpreter, educator and co-director of the Preparing School Interpreters Project (H325K2100024: 2021-26) at the University of Northern Colorado (www.unco.edu/PSIproject). With 15 years of interpreting experience, she uses her knowledge and skills to support interpreting students as they begin school interpreting. As a certified member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, she has served in leadership positions with the Interpreters in Educational and Instructional Settings Member Section and with other RID committees. She was also a founding member of the National Association of Interpreters in Education. Dr. Girardin holds a Doctor of Education in Mind, Brain, and Teaching from Johns Hopkins University. Her dissertation – American Sign Language Fluency: A Foundational Competency for Future School Interpreters – examined preservice preparation of school interpreters, aiming to improve the quality of interpreting services for deaf and hard of hearing students. This research continued initial co-authored research publications that were presented at state and national conferences.