The UK HE International Unit
Dr Joanna Newman - Director, UK Higher Education
International Unit
Callista Thillou - Assistant Director, Operations
and Projects, International and European
Catriona Finlayson - Communications and Public
Affairs Advisor
Elizabeth Farnell - Communications and Public
Affairs Advisor
Lucy Shackleton - Europe and Middle East Policy
Officer
Andy Heath - Asia Policy Officer
Lisa Bungeroth - Policy Officer European
Research
Sean O'Connor - Policy Officer Americas
Peter O'Reilly - Marketing and Research
Officer
Alex Pardoe - Project Manager
Tania Lima - Science without Borders, Programme
Director
Vikki Challen - Science without Borders, Marketing
and Communications Advisor
Rachael Sara-Kennedy - Research and Communications
Officer, SwB UK & Policy Officer, IU
Dr Joanna Newman - Director, UK
Higher Education International Unit
The International Unit drives the delivery of the UK higher
education sector's international agenda. Recent initiatives include
leading UK HE's involvement in the Brazilian Science without
Borders initiative and the new HEGlobal Integrated Advisory
Service, aimed at increasing the sector's engagement in
transnational education. Joanna represents the IU on the
International Education Advisory Forum, is a Board Member of the
School of Advanced Studies and regularly represents the sector on
national and international platforms. She is an Honorary Research
Fellow at the University of Southampton and a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Arts.
Callista Thillou - Assistant
Director, Operations and Projects, International and European
Callista is the Assistant Director, Operations and Projects,
International and European in the UK HE International Unit. She is
responsible for the overall communications and public affairs
activity of the Unit, as well as its budgets, governance. She works
closely with the Director of the IU, Joanna Newman in the strategic
planning of the Unit. Callista has ten years experience working in
higher education both in the UK and Australia. Prior to her current
role, she was manager of the UK Higher Education European Unit and
Director of Communications and Government Relations at Universities
Australia. Before working in higher education, Callista was Manager
of Public Relations and Policy at the Australian Medical
Association's Queensland Branch. She has a Bachelor of Business
from Queensland University of Technology and a Masters of Marketing
Communication from the University of Canberra.
Catriona Finlayson - Communications
and Public Affairs Advisor
Cat is responsible for the strategic communications for the
International Unit including media relations, public affairs,
stakeholder engagement, publications and digital communications
including the website www.international.ac.uk. With over a decade
of communications experience, prior to joining the International
Unit, Cat worked in a number of roles at the British Library,
including managing international engagement and was previously at
Oxford Brookes University.
Elizabeth Farnell - Communications
and Public Affairs Advisor
Elizabeth has been with the International Unit since its inception
in 2007. She has responsibility for all Unit publications including
the research programme and monthly newsletter, International Focus.
She also leads on conferences and events, and the Unit's
involvement with incoming and outgoing delegations. Prior to
working for the International Unit, Elizabeth worked as a press
officer and as a freelance journalist.
Lucy Shackleton - Europe and Middle
East Policy Officer
Lucy's focus is on European higher education. This includes the
Bologna Process, international student mobility and the
modernisation of higher education in the European context. She has
also recently taken over responsibility for the Unit's activities
in the Middle East and North Africa. Lucy joined the International
Unit from UNESCO Headquarters in Paris in November 2011.
Andy Heath - Asia Policy Officer
Andy is Policy Officer in the International Unit with the Asia
brief, including China and India. Before joining the IU, Andy
studied Mandarin as a China Government scholar in Beijing.
Previously he was Commissioning Editor for the Demotix news agency,
and worked on a UK election campaign.
Lisa Bungeroth - Policy Officer
European Research
Lisa's policy remit focuses on European research and
international mobility. Lisa has joined the International Unit from
Berlin where she has recently completed her MA in British Studies
at Humboldt-University. Previously, she studied at the University
of Bonn and the University of Liverpool and also worked at the
International Unit across a range of areas, including student
mobility, the Americas and European higher education and
research.
Sean O'Connor - Policy Officer
Americas
Sean's work at the International Unit focuses on the Americas
(North, Central and South). He studied languages for his
undergraduate degree before completing his MA in Latin American
Studies at the Institute for the Study of the Americas in London.
Sean joined the International Unit from Canning House, the centre
for UK-Latin America relations.
Peter O'Reilly - Marketing and
Research Officer
Peter is responsible for researching and disseminating news,
policy developments, conferences and training events via the
International Unit website, newsletters and social media. Peter
also manages membership accounts and newsletter registrations.
Prior to joining the International Unit Peter spent over 20 years
working in the management of information services specialising in
business and intellectual property information.
Alex Pardoe - Project Manager
Alex joined the International Unit as project manager for the
HEGlobal Integrated Advisory Service project. He is responsible for
a number of projects within the Unit and provides operational
guidance and support in the delivery of a range of core business
services. He has successfully delivered projects for both public
and private sector organisations.
Tania Lima - Science without Borders,
Programme Director
Tania is the Programme Director for Science without Borders. She
received a CNPq scholarship for a sandwich PhD in
Microbiology/Molecular Biology at New York University and has since
then participated in several international initiatives in
Switzerland, the UK and Brazil.
Vikki Challen - Science without
Borders, Marketing and Communications Advisor
Vikki is responsible for all marketing and communications for
Science without Borders. Vikki has over ten years experience of
designing and delivering marketing communications strategies and
campaigns in both the private and not-for-profit sectors. Vikki
started her career working for the education and skills charity UK
Skills and became Deputy Director of Communications. Vikki has also
worked as a consultant for a PR agency and as Head of
Communications for the NHS.
Rachael Sara-Kennedy
- Research and Communications Officer, SwB UK &
Policy Officer, IU
Rachael's work at the International unit is split between the
Science without Borders programme and the IU policy team. She
assists with the research, marketing and communications for
Science without Borders and also contributes to the MENA
policy work of the unit. Prior to joining the
International Unit, Rachael completed an MA in International
Studies and Diplomacy at the School of Oriental and African
Studies. Her area of interest is Latin America, and she has
previously worked in communication and research roles in the
charity sector in the UK and Peru.