John-Tyler Binfet is a professor at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus, and the founder and director of the Building Academic Retention through K9s (B.A.R.K.) program. Established in 2012, B.A.R.K. oversees 65+ dog-handler teams participating in on-campus and community programming and studies to assess the effects of therapy dogs on students’ mental health and well-being. Along with Dr. Christine Tardif-Williams, Dr. Binfet co-authored a new book titled “Optimizing Therapy Dog-Handler Team Welfare: A Guide for Researchers and Practitioners” that will be out in the summer of 2025.
