About

Researcher, translator and interpreter

I have been a Libras interpreter since 2013 and am also a researcher. Much of my academic work comes from interpreting practice and the questions it raises about the place of Libras in institutions.

I spent part of my childhood in England and have been close to the Deaf community since my teens. I began interpreting professionally while studying law, which is also when I started researching linguistic rights. After a master’s in Barcelona, I took that question into a PhD in Linguistics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), where I examined how Brazilian legislation regulates Libras translation and interpreting and what duties it places on institutions. At the same university I was a member of TILSJUR, an outreach programme on translation and interpreting in legal settings, and coordinated DicasJur, a series of videos explaining legal concepts in Libras.

My work in the profession has also extended beyond the university. From 2019 to 2023 I was Regional Director (South) of FEBRAPILS, the Brazilian federation of sign language interpreters’ associations. I am a member of APIC, the Brazilian professional association of conference interpreters, and in 2020 I co-founded Inclua, a Libras translation and interpreting company. Setting up and running a company taught me to see translation and interpreting as a livelihood as well, which means pricing one’s own work, presenting it and sustaining it over time. That experience is the basis of the workshops and mentoring I offer on careers and professional practice.

Today I am a postdoctoral researcher at the University of São Paulo (USP), where I study machine translation between Portuguese and Libras. My interests include translation policy, linguistic rights and the relationship between language, technology and society.