Trustees

The three Trustees of The Fauna Foundation are legal "guardians" responsible for the welfare and actions of the organization. With the assistance of a Board of Advisors, the Trustees oversee day-to-day operations and uphold the values and mission of the Fauna Foundation.

RICHARD ALLAN, D.V.M.

Dr. Richard Allan was born in Vancouver, BC. He received a degree in Veterinary Medicine from the University of Montreal. Upon graduation, he joined the Taschereau Veterinary Hospital, a small animal practice.  He continues to manage and provide veterinary services at the practice.  Dr. Allan is a member of the Canadian Association of Wildlife and Zoo Veterinarians and of VOICE, Veterinarians Opposed to Inhumane Circus Environments.

GLORIA GROW

Born in Montreal, Gloria always had a special affection for and skill in working with animals. She attended the Nash Academy of Animal Sciences and owned a dog grooming business for 15 years. Upon turning 40, she determined she wanted to work in animal protection, a feeling reinforced by a 1996 animal rights march she attended in Washington, DC.  Gloria decided to participate in a project called Caring for Chimpanzees run by Dr. Roger and Deborah Fouts, at the Chimpanzee and Human Communications Institute. Within days of arriving, Gloria decided that she would build Canada's first sanctuary for chimpanzees from biomedical research. Gloria currently serves as Co-chair of Project R&R: Release and Restitution for Chimpanzees in U.S. Laboratories, a campaign to end the use of chimpanzees in research. She is co-author of two papers on the psychological effects of captivity and research on chimpanzees. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Laboratory Primate Advocacy Group and is a Trustee of the American Fund for Alternatives to Animal Research.

DAWNA GROW

Dawna Grow, Gloria’s sister, has been an active member of the Fauna Foundation since its inception, serving as caregiver, consultant, and host for many visiting supporters and volunteers. Privately she provides a home for rescued cats, dogs and others and is active in community efforts to raise awareness of and compassion for animals, children and the environment. In addition, she is a four star vegan cook and educates about the benefits of humane non-animal based diets.

Advisory Board

The Fauna Advisory Board serves in an advisory capacity to Fauna Trustees on issues including legal, ethical, and practical matters. Various members also provide networking connections between Fauna and other organizations within the sanctuary, animal rights and environmental communities.

DEBORAH FOUTS

Deborah Fouts is co-director of The Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute (CHCI) at Central Washington University, Ellensburg, Washington  and co-founder and director of Friends of Washoe, a non-profit organization. Project Washoe chimpanzees have all acquired American Sign Language. It is the first and longest running project of its kind, named after the first non-human animal to acquire a human language -- Washoe. Deborah is active in efforts to improve the lives of chimpanzees in captivity as well as to protect free-living chimpanzees. Together with her husband, Roger, the Foutses have more than 75 publications in scientific journals and books.

ROGER FOUTS, Ph.D.

Roger Fouts is a comparative psychologist and co-director of CHCI. With more than thirty years of experience with captive chimpanzees, his primary areas of research are chimpanzee communication, social behavior and enrichment. In 1993, Dr. Fouts and Deborah created a state-of-the-art chimpanzee facility. The Foutses played an active role in campaigning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife to recognize chimpanzees in Africa as an "Endangered" species. They are also active in the movement to provide sanctuary for chimpanzees used in research, and to promote basic legal rights for non-human great apes.

DIANE FRANK, DMV

A graduate of the University of Montreal, Dr. Frank practiced veterinary medicine for small animals from 1983 to 1996. She completed a Residency in Animal Behavior at Cornell University in 1998, and was recognized as a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Behaviorists (DACVB) in 1999. Dr. Frank was a Visiting Scholar and a Lecturer at the Veterinary Hospital University of Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2001. She is an Assistant Professor in Animal Behaviour at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Montreal. Her goal is to educate on the respectful treatment of non-human animals (using positive reinforcement as opposed to punishment), as well as understanding more about fear and anxieties in non-human animals, so that we can  offer captive and companion animals a better quality of life.

JANE GOODALL, Ph.D., CBE

Dr. Goodall is an internationally renowned ethologist and humanitarian. Through dozens of academic articles and nine books Dr. Goodall has acquainted the world with the development, social behavior, ranging patterns, feeding habits, tool use and lifecycle of the wild chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream reserve in Tanzania, East Africa. In 1991, she initiated an environmental and humanitarian education program, Roots & Shoots, that aims to empower young people to take action in their communities to help the environment, animals and other humans. She has also been instrumental in the creation of sanctuaries in several African countries for chimpanzees confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade. Encyclopedia Britannica refers to Dr. Goodall as "without question one of the most significant contributors to our knowledge of the world around us".

MARY LEE JENSVOLD, Ph.D.

In 1989, Dr. Jensvold received her M.A. in experimental psychology with her thesis exploring imaginary play in the signing chimpanzees. In 1997, Dr. Jensvold received her Ph.D. under Drs. Allen & Trixie Gardners. In her dissertation, she explored chimpanzee conversational skills in chimpanzee/human signed interactions. Currently she is program coordinator and research associate at the Chimpanzee & Human Communication Institute and is an adjunct faculty member in the psychology and anthropology departments at Central Washington University. She is also a member of the scientific advisory board for the National Chimpanzee Sanctuary.

SHIRLEY McGREAL, Ed. D.

Dr. McGreal founded the International Primate Protection League (IPPL) in 1973 while she was living in Bangkok, Thailand. After witnessing the inhumane treatment of monkeys being readied for shipment to overseas laboratories and learning of the methods to capture wild infants, she established IPPL to protect primates in their natural habitats and to prevent the illegal traffic of all primates. IPPL, led by Dr.McGreal, currently has a membership from 60+ countries. Dr. McGreal has been acclaimed for her work on behalf of primates and the environment, including recognition by: the Queen of England; the United Nations Global 500; the Wildlife Society of Bangladesh; the Indian Society of Naturalists; and the Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage.

JOHN MULCAHY

John Mulcahy received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Vermont. In September 1998 he began volunteering at the Fauna Foundation, and became a member of Fauna's Advisory Board. In 1999, he pursued a Master's degree in Primate Behavior at Central Washington University's Chimpanzee and Human Communication Institute.  He is now working at Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest.

MICHAEL SERES, S. o. Ch.

Michael Seres is a Chimpanzee Management Consultant who has worked with chimpanzees and other primates since 1973.  Mike has held positions at the Primate Section of the Budapest Zoo in Hungary; the Toronto Zoo in Canada, the Field Station at Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center and the Max-Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. He led chimpanzee group formation/resocialisation projects at Yerkes, the Biomedical Primate Research Center in the Netherlands, Gaenserndorf Safari park in Austria and Fauna. His most recent work with chimpanzees is at Stichting AAP (the Netherlands and Spain) and Liberia’ Vilab (New York Blood Center). He is a member of the AAZK, IPS and ASP and an advisory board member for Gorilla Haven and Project R&R. An avid photographer and conservationist, his photographs have been featured in numerous scientific publications and books.

TONY SMITH

Tony Smith works to promote international understanding of the importance of the non-human ape's right to life, liberty, and freedom from torture. President of the Fauna Sanctuary, an affiliated U.S. not-for-profit, Tony is a friend and colleague to some of the world's leading chimpanzee experts. Tony is married to Fauna Trustee Dawna Grow and is father to Maggie, one of Fauna’s young volunteers.