Recruitment Team

Role: The recruitment team are responsible for telling the world about our projects! They also have an important role in advising potential volunteers on projects that might suit them. They're always available on the phone.

Ian Birbeck - Recruitment Director

Ian is in charge of our Recruitment team. He coordinates the programme of visits, talks and publicity about Projects Abroad around the world.

Robert Kidd - Programme Advisor

Rob joined Projects Abroad in Feb 2006. He is widely travelled and has volunteered in a number of areas, including teaching in Colombia and archaeology in Italy. Rob talks to potential volunteers about our projects and attends events at schools and universities across the UK.

Scott McQuarrie - Programme Advisor

Scott comes from Glasgow, Scotland and joined the UK team in September 2006. Scott volunteered with Projects Abroad in Ghana and has also visited projects in Romania and Moldova. He studied Sport at university and now promotes our sport and archaeology projects to potential volunteers.

Harry Kent - Programme Advisor

Harry joined the team in 2006 when he spent 5 months working on our conservation project in Botswana. Before he had time to catch his breath he was whisked off to Ghana where he worked over the summer. In his spare time Harry loves to listen to live music and particularly enjoys outdoor activities. When he's not in faraway places, Harry talks to potential volunteers about our projects and attends events at schools and universities across the UK.

Heidi Tanner - Programme Advisor

Heidi joined the recruitment team in November 2009 having gained eight years experience in the volunteering overseas sector. Heidi has travelled extensively and spent time in many of our destinations including Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Tanzania, Thailand, China, Israel and Jamaica and has experience of many different projects.

Koreen Walsh - Programme Advisor

Koreen is beginning her B.A. Degree in Spanish, Psychology, Philosophy, Film Studies at NUI Galway. She volunteered with Projects Abroad in 2008 on a teaching programme in Costa Rica and loved every minute of it!

Jessica Warner - Programme Advisor

Jessica is currently studying for her B.A. Degree in Spanish, French, Psychology and IT at NUI Galway. In 2008, as part of her gap year Jessica did a 2 month teaching placement in Liberia, Costa Rica with Projects Abroad, and had the time of her life! In her spare time she loves travelling and socialising..!

Rose Yelland - Recruitment Administrator

Rose provides administrative support to the Recruitment Team. She organises our busy diary of talks, school visits and career fairs, assists with open day logistics and helps to contact volunteers once they've returned from their placements.

Overseas Recruitment

And we have people helping us recruit volunteers from around the world too.

Will Pashley - in Australia

Will first joined as a volunteer teacher in Moldova in 1992. Since that eye opening experience he has gone through a variety of jobs and travels and now runs the Australia office from Adelaide. He is a regular sportsman who is frequently found with a cricket bat in his hand.

Robert Levine - in Canada

Rob joined Projects Abroad in 2005, as one of the first volunteers on the then-unheard-of volunteer Drama programme in Romania. As an experienced stage director, Rob was an ideal volunteer and has since taken responsibility for guiding that project to its fruition. Since then, he's taken over running our new office in Toronto. In his free time, Rob enjoys playing hockey, speaking French and eating at Tim Horton's. Which makes sense, since he is Canadian.

Karen Panum Thisted - in Denmark

Karen is currently studying for a Bachelor in Business, Language and Culture from Copenhagen Business School. She volunteered in 2004 with Projects Abroad on both the Conservation Project in Mexico and the Conservation Project in Peru.

Frank Seidel - in France

Frank heads our recruitment office in France. He has 15 years of volunteering experience and has edited a guidebook on conservation placements since 1991. A native German, Frank has now settled in Grenoble where he enjoys hiking and ski-touring in the French Alps.

Michael Harms - in Germany

Michael has been working for Projects Abroad in Germany since 2003. He has recenty visited our projects in Ghana and China. Michael studied German literature and spends most of his free time reading fiction and playing football in a semi-professional team.

Laurens Vos - in Holland

Laurens coordinates our recruitment in the Netherlands . He originally joined Projects Abroad as a volunteer in South Africa . In his spare time Laurens enjoys photography. He also loves spending time with his newly born daughter Philien.

Simona Eco - in Italy

Simona has volunteering and working experience in different countries of Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe. She is now back in Italy where she coordinates with Serena our new recruitment office, opened on August 2007 in the beautiful city of Naples.

Tom Pastorius - in USA

Tom runs Projects Abroad Inc in New York, our exclusive outlet in the USA and Canada. Tom graduated from Princeton University and he has visited a number of our destinations - he's always keen to get out and see another part of the world. Tom enjoys running and the outdoor life.

Will Harper - Director for US

Will was a volunteer back in the summer of 2003, when he set up a program that takes orphans to important historical sites throughout Romania. He has also spent a summer in the middle east researching his senior thesis and just finished his B.A. in Art History from Yale University. Will was a rugby player in college and used to work at an airport refueling planes in his free time.

Kana Ueki - Director for Japan

Kana first joined as volunteer journalist in India in the Summer of 2008. She loves travelling in her spare time and learning about other foreign cultures. Now she runs the Japan office from Yokohama. When she has time Kana spends her time diving in the beautiful oceans near the small islands in Japan.