Jason Van Allen, President
Jason Van Allen, MA, is a Clinical Child Psychology student at the University of Kansas. Jason
has a broad interest in psychological interventions, with a focus on the role of positive psychology in treatment and within pediatric illness populations. His past research projects have involved examinations of the psychological construct, Hope, in both adult and child populations. His current research work includes children’s responses to a pediatric weight management program, and the role of positive psychology constructs in the management of type 1 diabetes. As the President of SIPPA, Jason aims to increase membership within the organization, provide improved services and programs to students, and to expand student membership internationally.
John Coffey, President-Elect
John Coffey, MA, MSW, is a Ph.D. student in positive developmental psychology at Claremont Graduate University. John studied psychology as an undergraduate at Creighton University and completed his Master of Social Work at the University of Michigan. Prior to beginning his graduate work at Claremont, he worked as a children’s therapist and served on a nonprofit board for charter school. His experiences in those settings inspired his current work on emotions, attachment, motivation, and thriving as a member of Jessica Borrelli’s CARE lab. As the President-Elect of SIPPA, John looks forward to the 3rd World Congress on Positive Psychology, continuing to expand membership, and finding new ways for SIPPA to support positive psychology students.
JP Dulay, Communications Representative
John, or JP, Dulay is a first year Ph.D. student in Positive Developmental
Psychology in the School of Behavioral and Organizational Sciences at Claremont Graduate University. He is interested in the role of sports in developing emotional intelligence and social skills,as well as how coaches, parents, and other emergent leaders in sports might help build (or breakdown) those skills. His research interest is rooted in the idea that sports can be a positive institution but reliable and valid research should help inform those decisions that can move the institution of sports in that direction. JP currently participates in a research lab at the Kravis Leadership Institute where they are investigating the "soft skills" of leadership. He is also working with an international team of researchers exploring both eudaimonic and hedonic happiness.
Pinar Dursun, Conference Representative
Pinar Dursun is currently a Ph.D. candidate in counseling psychology at Middle East Technical
University in Turkey. She is a research assistant in the Psychology Department at Afyon Kocatepe University in Turkey. Pinar has a master’s in clinical psychology and has worked as a therapist. Her primary research interests are meaning in life, optimism, hope,coping styles/strategies, and happiness. In her work for nine years as a clinical psychologist, she has found the process where people construct meaning out of traumatic experiences to be amazing. Pinar has started to study this process of developing meaning from a positive psychology perspective. Through her experiences with disabled and traumatized individuals, she has always admired the human strengths, growth, and potential for optimal functioning. Broadly, Pinar’s aim is to develop or expand cultural models for positive psychology in Turkey.
Jeremiah Bullock, Mentoring Representative
Jeremiah studies psychology at Portland State University, works with a suicide intervention nonprofit as a crisis intervention specialist, and volunteers as a mentor for a youth mentorship program in Portland, Oregon. Jeremiah combines a background in technology and an interest in research methodology, particularly focused on flow measurement, flow interventions in educational settings, and experience sampling methods using smartphone technology.
Zeynab Bahrami Ehsan, Membership and Recruitment Representative
Zeynab is a PhD candidate in Positive Psychology at the University of New South Wales.
She is teaching at UNSW as well. Her research interests related to positive psychology include: psychological mechanisms underlying well-being, positive psychological interventions which can lead to well-being, and personal growth interpretation engaging in well-being. As Membership & Recruitment Representative of Student International Positive Psychology Association, she hopes to: organize and facilitate the regional representative selection process of SIPPA; facilitate communication with and providing resources to the regional representatives and corresponding Positive Psychology student organizations; broaden membership of SIPPA internationally.