Debra Russell is an ASL-English interpreter, interpreter educator and researcher from Canada. Her interpreting practice spans thirty years, and continues to be community based in a range of medical, legal, mental health and employment settings. She was a founding member of the Association of Visual Language Interpreters of Canada, and has served in a variety of leadership roles over the organizations history.
She is currently the President of the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters. As the previous David Peikoff Chair of Deaf Studies at the University of Alberta and the Director of the Western Centre for Deaf Studies she has conducted research about mediated education involving interpreters, legal settings and legal discourse, and on Deaf-hearing interpreter teams.
Debra is recognized internationally for pioneering efforts in the field of sign language interpretation and adult education. 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. Her teaching has also taken her to locations in the United States, Europe, Ukraine, Australia, South Africa, Colombia, and Southeast Asia. She is the author of Interpreting in Legal Contexts: Consecutive and Simultaneous Interpretation and the co-editor of Interpreting in Legal Settings. She is also a dedicated student of yoga, who loves to travel. Visit her website at www.dlr-consulting.ca.