Melissa is a professor in and the director of the ASL-English interpreting program at Palomar College in San Marcos, California. She earned doctoral and Master’s degrees in Teaching and Learning from the University of California, San Diego, and a BA in Spanish with a minor in American Indian Studies from San Diego State University. Her doctoral research explores the practices and decisions of interpreters working in public schools and was published by Gallaudet University Press as More than Meets the Eye: Revealing the Complexities of an Interpreted Education (2103). Her extensive background in education, her own experiences as a second language learner, and her work as an interpreter and interpreter educator allow her to examine the work of educational interpreters through multiple lenses. More importantly, as the parent of a Deaf teenager, she brings a unique perspective to her work and presentations.
