AUDEAMUS
Service Dogs
THE PAUL FOX MEMORIAL EDUCATIONAL FUND
Presented in Paul’s name by his family; wife Anne, daughter Meagan and son Kent in Partnership with Audeamus
Paul was born on April 6,1955 and passed away much too soon on December 18, 2017.
He graduated J.L. Crowe High School in Trail, BC and while he was in school, he joined the 44th Field Engineers Squadron but his desire was to work with dogs in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
In December 1976, he left for training in Regina, SK. Over the next 10 years he was in Kamloops, BC, Port Hardy, BC, Kimberley, BC Sointula, BC and Port McNeil, BC. During that time, he took every opportunity to train pups for the RCMP and to quarry whenever he could.
In 1987 he finally got his wish and became an RCMP dog master in Surrey, BC. He was in Surrey and Langley for the next 8 years when he moved up to Kamloops for 3 years.
In 1999 he was assigned to the Vancouver International Airport and after 15 years of being a dog master, he finally had to give up for health reasons.
In 2011, he retired as a Staff Sergeant with his last posting in Richmond, BC. He was approached by Audeamus shortly after retirement to be the BC contact for helping veterans in BC with PTSD to have a Service Dog and to follow up on their training.
He was enthusiastic about helping Audeamus as he knew what could happen to the mind when faced with work-related sights and sounds when working in the RCMP and the Military and the causes of PTSD, Occupational Stress Injuries and Traumatic Brain Injuries.
FUND
The Paul Fox Memorial Educational Fund was established in 2019 and made possible by the generous bequest of Paul Fox’s Family in cooperation with Audeamus Service Dogs.
The fund was created to provide post-secondary financial aid and support to the children belonging to members of the RCMP and CAF as well as Veterans and First Responders.
Funding aids students, seeking a vocation in fields pertaining to the treatment of PTSD, OSI and other Traumatic Brain Injuries in conjunction with the human animal healing process.
HOW CAN
YOU HELP?
If you would like to donate to the Paul Fox Education Fund you will be supporting students in researching these important issues.
PAUL FOX MEMORIAL EDUCATIONAL FUND RECIPIENT
Linzi Williamson was chosen as she is an outstanding PhD student that is part of the research team, has been involved in learning all aspects of training handling and using a service dog. She played a role in developing the application for the health Canada grant to next research by U of S lead by Dr. Colleen Dell. Having been successful in receiving her PhD she is now part of the three year project, involved in fostering and pertaining Audmeaus service dogs.
Linzi Williamson is a PhD Candidate in Applied Social Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), specializing in program evaluation and social science research methods.
She has received numerous university and national academic awards, published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, presented at both national and international conferences, and navigated the challenges of having one of her research projects go viral worldwide.
She and her teammates were awarded the 2015 Canadian Evaluation Society (CES) Student Case Competition. Linzi has since co-coached three teams that successfully made it to the final round of the competition.
In addition to her studies and research, she has completed several internships and work contracts with non-profit organizations in Saskatoon and has taught undergraduate psychology courses at the U of S. Currently, she is facilitating the Essential Skills Series workshop for the CES Saskatchewan Chapter to assist Government of Saskatchewan workers in increasing their knowledge of program evaluation.
After receiving funding in September 2017 through the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient Oriented Research (SCPOR), Linzi joined Dr. Colleen Dell’s (Department of Sociology, U of S) research team and became a member of the AUDEAMUS community-based participatory project.
As a member of the research team, Linzi has also been given the opportunity to learn AUDEAMUS service dog training methods and foster service dogs that are waiting to be matched with a veteran.
She plans to continue her research with service dogs in a Post-doctoral position with Dr. Colleen Dell.
LINZI WILLIAMSON - 2019
"It is an honour to be recognized as the 2019 Paul Fox Memorial Educational Fund recipient for the work I have done with the AUDEAMUS research team as a PhD-level research assistant.
Being a part of this team is a point of personal pride because I truly value the efforts made by AUDEAMUS toward bettering the lives of Canadian veterans with their service dog program.
Awards like this are important not only for the development of research careers like mine, but also for raising awareness about the importance of the work being done by AUDEAMUS." Linzi
AUTUMN TUTTROEN - 2019
Autumn Tuttroen, a Saulteaux woman with familial roots in Skownan First Nation, is entering her final academic term of the Bachelor of Social Work program with the University of Regina. From 2015 to 2018, Autumn was a dual student with both the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan (U of S), where she completed her Pre-Social Work academic requirements.
During her time as an undergraduate, Autumn received numerous academic and university awards, developed second-year university programming for the Indigenous Student Achievement Program (ISAP), and was invited to speak at numerous events, organizations, and in the classroom to gatherings of 200+ people including Saskatoon Police Service platoons. In addition to being a dedicated and high achieving academic, Autumn also provides academic guidance to U of S Arts & Science students in her position as an Indigenous Student Peer Advisor, where she brings a holistic approach to working alongside students.
In early 2018, Autumn met Corporal Chris Lohnes in her Social Work with Animals class, where he presented on the AUDEAMUS program. Autumn was inspired by Chris’ passion and knowledge and became a volunteer with AUDEAMUS shortly thereafter. Since then, Autumn has done extensive work in the AUDEAMUS Google Classroom which connects the national program’s members to develop and strengthen their interpersonal and canine handling skills. As of July 2019, Autumn joined Dr. Colleen Dell’s U OF S Department of Sociology research team where she will act as a liaison between the researchers and AUDEAMUS members.
I am truly humbled to be recognized as a recipient of the Paul FOX Bursary grant for the volunteer work that I have done for AUDEAMUS. My experiences with AUDEAMUS members and the founders has been and continues to be awe inspiring, eye opening, and immensely educational.
I became part of the AUDEAMUS community because I truly believe in the program’s vision, mission, and values in improving the physical and emotional wellbeing of veterans, first responders, and war correspondents. Seeing firsthand the positive strides that program participants make in their lives and with their service dogs is what inspires me to continue working for AUDEAMUS." Autumn