Lorena is a linguist interested in the formal investigation of sign language grammar. Her research primarily focuses on the syntax–semantics of Brazilian Sign Language (Libras), drawing on both corpus and elicited data.

She is currently a second-year PhD candidate at the University of Bergen, working on the NONMANUAL project. Her doctoral work contributes to the description of non-manual articulation in Libras and situates it within crosslinguistic comparisons of non-manual expressions across sign languages. In her recent research, she has analyzed negative non-manual markers in Libras, using data from Corpus Libras.

Lorena is a member of the TEIKN Research Group, which focuses on linguistic research on sign languages through experimental, quantitative, and computational methods. She also serves as chair of STIP-HF, the interest committee for all PhD candidates at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Bergen.

2025

September 2025
Negative nonmanual markers in Libras
Poster presentation at the Sign CAFÉ 3, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland, 18.-19. September 2025.
Abstract available at the book of abstracts (in English): link here

July 2025

Marcadores não manuais de negação em Libras (Negative nonmanual markers in Libras)
Poster presentation at the III GEL School of Linguistic Studies (III Escola de Estudos Linguísticos do GEL), Unicamp, Campinas, Brazil, 7-11 July 2025.
Abstract available at the book of abstracts (in Portuguese): link here

June 2025

Non-Manual Expressions in Sign Languages: Methods for Annotation and Analysis
Course on the annotation and analysis of non-manual expressions in sign languages, delivered as a guest professor at the Graduate Program in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics (PosLin), Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), during a research stay, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, June 23rd - July 2nd 2025.

2024

December 2024
Negative nonmanual markers in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) 
Presentation at the Nonmanual Miniconference, UiB, Bergen, 13 December 2024.

November 2024
Reciprocal constructions in Brazilian Sign Language: exploring lexical and grammatical strategies.
Invited talk at the Sign Language, Interpreting, Linguistics and Communication Seminars (Silc), Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), Bergen, 26 November 2024

October 2024
Marcadores não manuais de negação em Libras: um estudo preliminar (A preliminary study of negative nonmanual markers in Libras)
Reciprocal constructions in Brazilian Sign Language 
Poster presentations at the Congresso de Pesquisas em Línguas de Sinais (Copels), Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianópolis, Brazil, 7-11 October 2024.

August 2024
A preliminary study of negative nonmanual markers in Brazilian Sign Language (Libras)
Poster presentation at the DGfS Summer School 2024: Form-meaning mismatches in spoken and visual communication, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany, 12-23 August, 2024.
Abstract available at the book of abstracts: link here

June 2024
Reciprocal Constructions in Brazilian Sign Language.
Talk at the TEIKN mini conference: Topics in Sign Linguistics, UiB, Bergen, 25 June 2024.