Presenter Biographies

Lauri Metcalf retired as the Chair Emeritus 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 and under her leadership; the program received much recognition including the State of Texas Workforce Education Exemplary Program, Collegiate Commission on Interpreter Education Accreditation and Sorenson Communication Award for Excellence in Interpreter Education. 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. She was a member of the Panel of Experts in the development of the current BEI Interpreting Exam. Since 2009, Lauri has worked as a Subject Matter Expert  with the National Center on Interpretation at the University of Arizona and the Texas Board for Evaluation of Interpreters as . Lauri continues to serve as the Coordinator and Lead Instructor for Rater Trainings and BEI Summer Institutes.  

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 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 is a native Texan and currently serves as the Chair for Tyler Junior College’s ASL and Interpreter Training Program. Her extensive experience includes teaching and presenting at local, state, national, and international levels. She is multi-certified under the Texas Board of Evaluators of Interpreters (BEI), holding certifications including BEI Court, Medical, and Level IV, as well as a CCHI Medical Core certification. With over 39 years of professional interpreting experience, Kim has worked in various settings, including legal, medical, mental health, video relay interpreting, video remote interpreting, Deaf-blind, education, platform, and social services. Additionally, Kim has a deep understanding of the certification and testing processes for BEI, ensuring that aspiring interpreters are well-prepared to meet the expectations of these assessments. Two of her primary goals are advocating for full communication access for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community and contributing to the training of the next generation of interpreters.

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 (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.

Nigel Howard is an instructor at the University of Victoria in the Department of Linguistics. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of British Columbia in the Department of Linguistics.  At Douglas College, he had worked in the Program of Sign Language Interpretation (INTR), and Child, Family and Community Studies (CFCS) for 25 years.

Nigel has been an interpreter for nearly 30 years in various settings such as medical, mental health, legal, theatre, community, and conference/workshops locally, nationally, and internationally.  He is an Accredited International Sign Interpreter under the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD) and World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI) and is also part of the United Nations team of International Sign interpreters and interprets media. Broadcasting and translating are his forte.

Nigel advocates for Deaf communities locally in British Columbia, nationally across Canada and globally around the world in human rights, accessibility, signed languages, and Deaf culture.   Such examples are being Vice President of the BC Deaf Community Foundation (DCF) and former executive board member of the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters (WASLI).  He provides consultations, educational workshops/training and presentations to various governments and organisations/associations to enhance better understanding, appreciation and awareness of Deaf culture and its signed language.  It is a big part of his role as advocate, educator, and motivator.  Such examples are “Global Diversity in Deaf Culture”, and “Enculturation and Acculturation: Deaf and Hearing Worlds/Spaces”. Nigel was also part of the Editorial board for the International Journal of Interpreter Editor (for over 10 years).

Bridging two cultures and two languages has always been a significant part of his advocacy and to promote a society in which every person has access to be truly themselves as a human person. 

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, 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, 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, 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, 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.

Susan E. Brown, MEd, Ed:K-12, is the Project Director for the Colorado Commission for the Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and DeafBlind Rural Auxiliary Services, Rural Interpreter Skills Enhancement (RISE) Project. She is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Northern Colorado Department of ASL & Interpreting Studies (www.unco.edu/cebs/asl-interpreting). Over the past 25 years, Ms. Brown has been engaged in the field of educational interpreting as a practitioner, researcher, curriculum developer, author, and local and national presenter. Her resolute passion has been identifying, practicing, and educating others regarding best practices for interpreting in an educational environment. As a certified member of the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf, Ms. Brown served on RID’s EIPA National Task Force, RID’s Educational Interpreter Committee, and RID’s Educational Interpreter Task Force. She also served as the Steering Committee Chair for the development of the National Association of Interpreters in Education (NAIE) (www.naiedu.org) and served as NAIE Board President from 2016-2019. She holds a master’s degree in adult learning and education from Regis University.