Board of Directors

Brett Hanover / Auryn
Independent Filmmaker, Adjunct Instructor in Photography, University of Memphis, TN, USA

Brett Hanover is a filmmaker and new media artist whose work explores neurodiversity, queer virtual communities, and transformation. Their films have been exhibited at venues including the SXSW Film Festival, Anthology Film Archives, the Cinémathèque Française, and many cons and DIY spaces. Brett is the co-curator of Room Party, a 2025 group exhibition of furry contemporary art, and currently runs the New Furry Cinema screening series. They teach digital art and photography at the University of Memphis.

Dr Hazel Ali Zaman-Gonzalez / Sibyl
Assistant Professor of Social Work and Director of Gender, Sexuality, and Race Studies Department at Pacific Lutheran University, Tacoma, WA, USA

Informed by queer and trans of color critique and scholarship, Hazel engages with various interdisciplinary fields, such as transgender studies, performance studies, and critical youth studies, in writing about queer and trans of color life. Hazel’s current teaching and research interests include queer and trans healthcare, wellness, and the utilization of phenomenological and participatory methodologies for applied trans inquiry.

Reuben Mount / Vanguard Husky
PhD Candidate, Birmingham City University, United Kingdom

Reuben Mount otherwise known as Vanguard the Husky is a furry researcher in the U.K., studying the furry fandom at Birmingham City University. His research specialisms include furry identity, furry media and safe spaces.

Tom Geller / Jack Newhorse
Founder and Organiser, Stichting Otterdam, Netherlands

Tom Geller is the founder and President of Stichting Otterdam, a Dutch nonprofit that hosted the first Furry Studies conference as part of the 2024 Otterdam Furry Arts Festival. He became involved in the furry community in the San Francisco Bay area in 1998 and now lives in Rotterdam, performing occasionally at events on trombone and electronic instruments.

Tommy Bruce / Atmus
Visual Artist, United States of America

Tommy Bruce is an artist living in Portland, Oregon. His work centers on an exploration of identity in contemporary culture through work with the Furry community. His work has been featured in exhibitions and publications internationally, including Art in America, The Institute for Contemporary Art Philadelphia, Vice, Lenscratch and ArtForum. He was an invited speaker on the subject of the Furry community at the 2016 New York City Porn Film Festival, and has advocated for the legitimacy and value of the Furry community through public presentations, exhibitions and programming for more than a decade.

Dr Xavier Ho / Spaxe Austral
Senior Lecturer in Interaction Design, Monash University, Australia

Spaxe (pronounced ‘spakes’) is a designer, researcher, and a hobby singer. He works with queer and trans gamemakers to investigate best practices for documenting, preserving, and describing games as cultural history in the making, including furry games. Spaxe is a co-founder of Furry Studies, and an editor on the Special Issue of Furry Studies in Journal of Popular Communication. He loves musical theatre and hosts the Furry Variety Show at Aurawra, and performs in musical events regularly in the furry community.