John-Tyler Binfet

Director, Graduate Programs

B.A.R.K., Education

Other Titles: Director, B.A.R.K.; Professor
Office: EME 3173
Phone: 250.807.8420
Email: johntyler.binfet@ubc.ca

Research Summary

Conceptualizations of kindness in children and adolescents; Measuring kindness in schools; Social and Emotional Learning; Canine-assisted interventions; Assessment of therapy dogs; University student well-being

Courses & Teaching

Research Methods
Social and Emotional Learning
Child and Adolescent Development

Biography

Dr. Binfet is a professor with the Okanagan School of Education. He has two distinct research streams: 1) the investigation of kindness in school including how children, adolescents, and teachers understand what it means to be kind within a school context; and 2) the effects of canine-assisted interventions on undergraduate student well-being. Dr. Binfet is the director of UBC’s Building Academic Retention through K9’s (B.A.R.K.) program. Founded in 2012, B.A.R.K. routinely sees 60+ therapy dogs brought to campus to support students’ stress reduction and overall well-being. In 2021 he became the director of the Centre for Mindful Engagement.

In 2024, he received the Outstanding Instructor Award in recognition of his dedication to having positive impacts on students’ experiences.

Dr. Binfet is currently accepting graduate students.

Websites

Building Academic Retention through K9’s (B.A.R.K.): http://bark.sites.olt.ubc.ca

The School Kindness Scale (S.K.S): https://education.ok.ubc.ca/research-partnerships/the-school-kindness-scale-for-children-and-adolescents/

Degrees

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of Calgary (1987)
Bachelor of Education, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (1991)
Master of Arts in Measurement, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (1993)
PhD in Educational Psychology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver (2000)

Selected Publications & Presentations

Books

Binfet, J. T., & Tardif-Williams, C. Y. (2025). Optimizing therapy dog-handler team welfare: A guide for practitioners and researchers. Routledge.

Tardif-Williams, C.Y., & Binfet, J.-T. (2023). Virtual human-animal interactions: Supporting learning, social connections and well-being. Routledge.

Binfet, J. T. (2022). Cultivating kindness: An educator’s guide. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Binfet, J. T., & Hartwig, E. (2020). Canine-assisted interventions: A comprehensive guide to credentialing therapy dog teams. New York: Routledge.

Book Chapters

Binfet, J. T., & Green, F. L. L. (2025). Building Academic Retention through K9s (B.A.R.K.): Supporting college students at the University of British Columbia. In A. H. Fine, M. Mueller, Z. Ng, T Chastain Griffin, & P. Tedeschi (Eds.), Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy: Foundations and Guidelines for Animal-Assisted Interventions (pp. 458-461). Academic Press.

Binfet, J. T., Rousseau, C. X., & Green, F. L. L. (2025). AAI in Special Settings: Hospitals, Colleges, & Correctional Facilities. In A. H. Fine, M. Mueller, Z. Ng, T Chastain Griffin, & P. Tedeschi (Eds.), Handbook on Animal-Assisted Therapy: Foundations and Guidelines for Animal-Assisted Interventions (pp. 373-387). Academic Press.

Publications

(note: underlined name indicates student co-author)

Binfet, J. T., & Dahlman, M. L. (2026). Loneliness undermines college students’ opportunities to hone their social and emotional competencies. Social and Emotional Learning Journal: Research, Policy, and Practice, 8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sel.2026.100220.

Binfet, J. T., Green, F. L. L., F. Demers, & Dahlman, M. L. (2026). “I left calmer, happier, and connected.”: What college students report as meaningful in an on-campus drop-in dog therapy program. Journal of College Student Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1080/28367138.2026.2702391

Green, F. L. L., Willcox, A. A., Dahlman, M. L., Watt, M. E., & Binfet, J.T. (in press). Assessing therapy dog-handler teams: A programmatic case study of positive and negative evaluation comments (2014-2024). People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Dahlman, M. L., Green, F. L. L., & Binfet, J. T. (2026). Too much to handle? Exploring perceptions of therapy dog handlers as pseudo-therapists in post-secondary canine-assisted interventions. Human-Animal Interaction Journal.

Binfet, J. T., Green, F. L. L., Godard, R. J. P., Dahlman, M. L., & Basiri, Z. (2026). Head, middle, or tail-end? Pilot study of the effects of interacting with different parts of therapy dogs. Human-Animal Interaction Journal, 14(1), 0009. https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2026.0009.

Paquet, A., Fenouillet, F., Martin-Krumm, C., Binfet, J. T., & Paquet, Y. (2025). Authentic and utilitarian benevolence: Self-determination theory as a framework to establish links to well-being. Social Indicators Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-025-03569-y

Tardif-Williams, C. Y., Binfet, J. T., Green, F. L. L., Godard, R. J. P., Singal, A., Rousseau, C. X., Roma, R. P. S. & Willcox, A. A. (2025). Beyond the campus context: Reducing stress among students and community members through virtual canine comfort modules. Human-Animal Interactions, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2025.0015

Binfet, J. T., Green, F. L. L., Godard, J. P., Szypula, M. M., & Willcox, A. A. (2025). Keeping loneliness on a short leash: Reducing university student stress and loneliness through a canine-assisted intervention. Human-Animal Interactions, 13(1). https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2025.0001 

Binfet, J. T., Godard, J. P., Green, F. L. L., & Willcox, A. A. (2025). High school students’ conceptualizations of kindness: A mixed-methods portrait. Social and Emotional Learning: Research, Practice, and Policy. https://doi.org/10l.1016/j.sel.2025.1000089

Webberson, E., Schroeder, K., Binfet, J. T., & Stellato, A. C. (2024). Supporting animals and veterans through enrichment: An exploratory study on a brief canine socializing intervention. Human Animal Interactions, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2024.0013

Howell, T. J., Mai, D. L., Dragonovic, P. Binfet, J. T., & Bennett, P. C. (2024). Impact of interactions with a puppy and handler versus handler alone on stress in a university setting: A crossover study. ANIMALS, 14, 2454. https::/doi.org/10.3390/ani14172454

Green, F. L. L., Dahlman, A. L., Lomness, A., & Binfet, J. T. (2024). For the love of acronyms: An analysis of terminology and acronyms used in AAI research 2013–2023. Human-Animal Interactions, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2024.0024 

Binfet, J. T., Green, F. L. L., Roche, S., & Scott, C. (2023). When teachers have autonomy to create SEL initiatives: Illustrations and iterations. International Journal of Emotional Education, 15(2), 1-8. https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/110298. Supported by a SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant.

Paquet, A., Fenouillet, F., Binfet, J. T., Lorant, S., & Paquet, Y. (2023). L’échelle de perception de bienveillance à l’école: Validation française de la “School Kindness Scale.” [School Kindness Scale: French validation of the School Kindness Scale]. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue Canadienne des sciences du comportement. https://doi.org.10.1037/cbs0000378

Binfet, J. T., Green, F. L. L., Godard, R. J. P., Rousseau, C. X., Syzpula, M. M., & Decker, J. (2023). A mixed-methods examination of an on-campus canine-assisted intervention by gender: Men, women, and gender diverse students’ self-reports of stress-reduction and well-being. Human-Animal Interaction, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2023.0037

Evans, C., Cipolli, W., Draper, Z. A., & Binfet, J. T. (2023): Repurposing a peer-reviewed publication to engage students in statistics: An illustration of study design, data collection, and analysis, Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education, https://doi.org/10.1080/26939169.2023.2238018

Green, F. L. L. & Binfet, J. T. (2023). Beyond Cuddling Canines: Exploring Students’ Perceptions of the Importance of Touch in an On-Campus Canine-Assisted Intervention. Emerging Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968231188754

Rousseau, C. X. & Binfet, J. T. (2023). Publication trends in Society & Animals from 2009-2019: A bibliometric analysis. Society & Animals. https://doi.org/10.1163/15685306-bja10136

Tardif-Williams, C. Y., Binfet, J. T., Green, F. L. L., Roma, R. P. S., Singal, A., Rousseau, C. X., & Godard, R. J. (2023). When therapy dogs provide virtual comfort: Exploring university students’ insights and perspectives. People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice.

Rodriguez, K. E., Green, F. L. L., Binfet, J. T., Townsend, L., & Gee, N. R. (2023).  Complexities and considerations in conducting animal-assisted intervention research: A discussion of randomized controlled trials. Human-Animal Interactions. https://doi.org/10.1079/hai.2023.0004

Selected Grants & Awards

Granting Agency	Subject	COMP	$ Per Year	Year	Principal Investigator
SSHRC Insight Grants	Understanding the Uptake and Benefits of On-Campus Therapy Dog Programming	C Awarded		2025	Binfet, J. T.
SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant	Fetching social connections: Therapy dogs uniting neurodiverse and neurotypical middle school students	C Awarded	10,000	2025	Binfet, J. T.
SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant	Social and Emotional Learning in SD23	C Awarded	24,994	2021-2022	Binfet, J. T.
SSHRC Insight Grant	Virtual Canine Comfort	C Awarded	88,915	2021-2024	Binfet, JT & Tardif-Williams, C.
Central Okanagan School District No. 23	Social and Emotional Learning Study	C Awarded	10,000	2020-2022	Binfet, J.T.
Central Okanagan Foundation	High School Kindness Study	C Awarded	10,000	2020-2021	Binfet, J.T.
Humanities and Social Sciences Research Grant	Kindness in University Students	C Awarded	5,000	2019-2020	Binfet, J.T.
TELUS	Canine Therapy w/ Boys & Girls Club – YEAR 2	C Awarded	5,000	2018-2019	Binfet, J. T.
SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant	Canine Therapy to support RCMP Constable well-being	C Awarded	24,694	2017-2018	Binfet, J. T.
TELUS	Canine Therapy w/ Boys & Girls Club	C Awarded	5,000	2017-2018	Binfet, J. T.
UBC Okanagan Internal Research Grant	Stress in Therapy Canines	C Awarded	4,985	2017-2018	Binfet, J. T.
SSHRC Insight Development Grant	Kindness in Middle School	C Awarded	32,778	2016-2018	Binfet, J. T.
Central Okanagan Foundation	Understanding Teacher’s Perception of Kindness	C Awarded	5,000	2014-2015	Binfet, J. T.

Media

Spice Radio Vancouver. (2021, Aug. 20). UBCO Study reveals how cuddling with dogs is basically like medicine for your mind. {Radio}

Global BC (2021, Aug. 20). Hugging a dog is good for mental wellbeing study says {Province-wide Television}

Matassa-Fung, D. (July 8, 2020). UBCO research conducts study to challenge notion of mean teens (Global BC)

CKNW, Jill Bennett Show “Back on the Beat” (May 25, 2019). (RADIO). Topic = Kindness.

The Tyee (May 22, 2019). How to make schools kinder places for kids: And other gentle lessons I’ve learned from 3,000 children and teens.

Le Soleil: Ce que 3000 enfants et adolescents m’ont appris sur la gentillesse (May 4, 2019)

Super Awesome Science Show (April 30, 2019) (PODCAST): For the Love of Dogs

Kindness: What I’ve learned from over 3,000 children and adolescents (The Conversation, April 29, 2019)

Academica Group (Mar. 13, 2019). Binfet reflects on seven years of dog therapy. Today’s Top Ten. 

Dog Therapy: What I’ve learned overseeing 60 canine campus teams. (The Conversation, Mar. 10, 2019).

Faculty Advisor/Supervisor

Dr. Binfet is keen to work with graduate students interested in working in the areas of kindness or canine therapy.  Dr. Binfet supervises M.Ed., M.A., and Ph.D. students in these areas and is well versed in both qualitative and quantitative methodologies.