Meet our researchers, professional staff and adjunct research associates at the Institute for Positive Psychology and Education (IPPE), as well as current and past HDR students.

At IPPE, we pride ourselves on the calibre of our internationally recognised researchers who are backed by a talented professional team and adjunct research associates.

We have worked collaboratively to achieve synergistic blends of rigorous quantitative, qualitative, and applied research. As a result, we have delivered important contributions to international research.

Collectively, the IPPE research team has been awarded over 70 Australian Research Council (ARC) grants (including ARC Future Fellowship and DECRAs).

IPPE Staff have also won the annual ACU Vice-Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award (Excellence in Research and Research Partnership) for two years running (2021, 2022).

Our executive team

Director of IPPE

Professor Rhonda Craven

Deputy Director of IPPE

Associate Professor Theresa Dicke (Acting Director)

Our staff

Browse our researchers, staff, students and graduates, and find out how to get in touch.

Professor Rhonda Craven – Director of IPPE  

Professor Philip Parker – Acting Pro Vice-Chancellor Research Impact and Engagement, Dean of Graduate Research, Deputy Director of IPPE.

Educational and Developmental Psychology (EDP)

Associate Professor Theresa Dicke – Program Leader EDP and Acting Deputy Director

Dr Baljinder Sahdra – Deputy Program Leader EDP

Professor Herb Marsh - Professor

Professor Joseph Ciarrochi - Professor

Professor Reinhard Pekrun – Professorial Fellow 

Associate Professor Jiesi Guo – Senior Research Fellow and HDR Program Leader

Dr Geetanjali Basarkod – Research Fellow

Dr Chloe Gordon – Research Fellow

Indigenous Game Changers (IGC)

Professor Alexander Yeung – Program Leader IGC

Dr Anthony Dillon – Postdoctoral Research Fellow 

Dr Georgia Durmush – Research Fellow 

Motivation and Behaviour (M&B)

Professor Chris Lonsdale – Interim ACU Deputy Provost and Program Leader M&B

Dr Taren Sanders – Acting Program Leader M&B

Professor Richard M Ryan – Professorial Fellow 

Professor Johnmarshall Reeve – Professor

Dr Hye-Ryen Jang – Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Dr Emma Bradshaw – Research Fellow

Dr Stefano Di Domenico – Postdoctoral Research Fellow 

Dr James Conigrave - Research Fellow

Visiting Scholars

  • Professor Felicia Huppert

  • Professor Katariina Salmelo-Aro, University of Helsinki

  • Professor Bill Thompson, Bond University

  • Associate Professor Ingar Mehus, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

  • Associate Professor Nikki Shure, University College London Social Research Institute

  • Dr Hanne Berthelsen, Malmö University

  • Dr Marcus Horwood, Deakin University

  • Dr Hye-Rin Lee, University of Delaware

  • Dr Kristina Loderer, University of Augsburg

  • Dr Christoph Niepel, University of Luxembourg

  • Dr Borja del Pozo-Cruz, University of Southern Denmark

  • Dr Roberto Parada, Western Sydney University

  • Dr Zhijun Xu

 

Administrative staff (Central Team)

  • Dr Ricky Chan – Institute Coordinator
  • Karen Ling - Senior Administrative Officer
  • Dr Diego Vasconcellos –Senior Data Analyst

Educational and Developmental Psychology EDP

  • Dr HeeRa Ko – Research Project Coordinator
  • Tim Kent - Research Project Officer
  • Joshua Smith - Research Project Officer
  • Nicholas Graziani - Project Officer
  • Alice Hudson - Project Officer
  • Emma Stenz - Project Officer
  • Brittany Watson - Project Officer

Indigenous Game Changers IGC 

  • Dr Alicia Egan – Research Program Manager
  • Clare Clendinning - Acting Research Program Manager
  • Hasret Mehmedali - Research Project Coordinator
  • Tara McFarlane - Research Project Officer
  • Sharon Morton - Research Project Officer
  • Bronte Powell - Project Officer

Motivation and Behaviour (M&B) 

  • Kirsty Bergan – Research Project Coordinator
  • Dr Jasper Duineveld – Research Technical Support Officer
  • Ben Steward - Project Officer
  • Zoe Carrick - Project Officer
  • Bridget Booker – Research Assistant
  • Ella Tremaine – Research Assistant
  • Roberta Vasconcellos – Research Assistant

IPPE Indigenous Internship Program

  • Violet Craven-Miller (2022-2023)
  • Hayley Creed (2022-2023)
  • Emily Jeffrey (2022)
  • Sharon Morton (2023)
  • Amy Miller-Porter (2022)
  • Lachlan Sibir (2022-2023)

 

  • Anum Urooj
  • Asghar Ahmadi
  • Bridget Booker
  • Charlotte Knoester
  • Christopher Duncan
  • Clive Haydon
  • Courtney Baker
  • Danling Huang
  • Ella Tremaine
  • Ewa Geba
  • Katrina Wilhite
  • Kelly Ferber
  • Mark Doyle
  • Mona Samad Zadeh
  • Nicola Cull
  • Dr Rajeev Bhanot
  • Raymond Chen
  • Roberta Vasconcellos
  • Rola Zaki-Aboultaif
  • Rory Darkins
  • Sylvia Wong
  • William Li
  • Dr Anne Ndaba
  • Dr Brooke Van Zanden
  • Dr Catherine Tikoft
  • Dr Darren Coppin
  • Dr Devan Antczak
  • Dr Diego Vasconcellos
  • Dr Elizabeth Davies
  • Dr Emma Bradshaw
  • Dr Emma Devine
  • Dr Geetanjali Basarkod
  • Dr Georgia Durmush
  • Dr James Conigrave
  • Dr James Donald
  • Dr Jane Lee
  • Dr Jasper Duineveld
  • Dr Jiesi Guo
  • Dr Katherine Owen
  • Dr Levi Brackman
  • Dr Loch Forsyth
  • Dr Lucy Hobby
  • Dr Lynette Riley
  • Dr Marcus Horwood
  • Dr Mathew Pfeiffer
  • Dr Melissa Schellekens
  • Dr Michael Noetel
  • Dr Michelle Kehoe
  • Dr Michelle Nemec
  • Dr Munirah Shaik Kadir
  • Dr Nathanial Kapsal
  • Dr Rhiannon Lee White
  • Dr Rob Brockman
  • Dr Rohan Perera
  • Dr Shiri Hergass
  • Dr Thomas Dornan
  • Dr Vijay Kumar
  • Dr Wendy Gwyn

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Visit us

Level 9 and 10, 33 Berry Street
North Sydney NSW 2060
Australia

Get in touch

PO Box 968
North Sydney NSW 2059
Australia