Meet the Team

Student Horizons is led by Jamie Wansey, an entrepreneur with extensive experience in international student group travel. Over the last twenty years, Jamie has delivered experiential experiences for schools in the UK, New Zealand and Australia and now resides in Queensland, Australia with his wife and three young children.

Experiential learning or learning by doing has been at the core of Student Horizons philosophy from the foundation of the organisation. Over 15,000 students and teachers have travelled all over the globe with Student Horizons over the last 12 years. Through an array of sport, music, and study based educational tours such as STEM and careers experiences, students have learnt by doing and have gained experiences for life.

Jamie’s enthusiasm for organising international trips for school students stems from the benefits that he himself accrued travelling and living all over the world. Jamie has lived in the UK, South Africa, Tanzania, Australia, USA and New Zealand. He has travelled extensively within Europe, Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and North America. It is Jamie’s positive travel experiences that have fuelled his passion for promoting overseas educational and sporting travel trips as a critical pillar in a young person’s development.

A lifelong learner, Jamie holds a Senior Executive MBA from Melbourne Business School, a BSc (Hons) in Geology from the University of Liverpool, NZQA travel industry qualifications and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Jamie is proud to have played a pivotal role in the establishment of SETO (Student Educational Travel Organisation) in Australia and assumed the inaugural Vice Chair role on the board of SETO for 3 years. Student Horizons is a founding member of SETO.

Since graduating from university with a degree in accounting and finance, Andrew worked for many years in finance for a leading global manufacturer and Fortune 500 company. The exposure to how industry and business succeed inspired Andrew to broaden his expertise and further his career path in operational management.

Shortly after emigrating to New Zealand from the UK with his wife and two children, Andrew was delighted when the opportunity arose to join Student Horizons. Providing opportunities for young people to ‘Challenge, Discover, Achieve’, is one that Andrew finds most rewarding. Having had the chance to travel to many places himself; Kenya, Morocco, Turkey, Australia, France and the United Arab Emirates to name just a few, Andrew is well aware of the benefits and advantages travel brings. Andrew is proud to be part of a world class team delivering first class experiences and unrivalled service.

Andrew has many happy memories of time spent in Scotland visiting some amazing historical sights, beautiful cities, and of course getting out and about enjoying the great Scottish outdoors.

Dave is co-founder and Executive Director of Cornerstone Safety Group. He has a risk management master’s degree from Norwich University, has spent the past 29 years in domestic and international travel operations, and has advised over 80 organisations in risk management practices and training.

Dave has held senior roles at some of the largest travel organisations and helped manage thousands of incidents of all severity types. Dave provides advice, guidance, support and training to the team at Student Horizons in the areas of risk and safety.

Born in Estonia to Russian parents, Jane developed a keen interest in different cultures from a very young age. Straight after school she left home for the UK, eager to try her luck in a different country. She graduated from one of the top UK universities few years later. Being fascinated by the constantly changing world we live in, she went on to do her degree in International Relations.

Throughout her university years and after graduating, Jane explored the world, travelling around India, South Africa, USA, Spain, France and Switzerland, to name few countries. Five years ago, one of these trips brought her to New Zealand and it took her two weeks to realise this was where she wanted to settle.

Since graduating, Jane explored a number of different professional fields, including human rights, sales and marketing, hospitality, and education. In the last few years, she worked in a number of language and business schools for international students in New Zealand, and travelled back to the UK to work at a Summer School, organising University Campus trips for high schools students around the world.

Her immense passion for travel and education brought her to Student Horizons.

Dr. Dubansky is the co-founder and Medical Director of Cornerstone Safety Group. He is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine Physician with special expertise in Wilderness Medicine. Dr. Dubansky is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

Dr. Dubansky received his medical degree from the University of Maryland School of Medicine in 2010, then trained in Emergency Medicine at UCSF-Fresno where he created and completed an area of concentration in Wilderness Medicine Education in 2014. Dr. Dubansky’s experience includes designing and implementing EMS field scenarios and mass casualty drills, lecturing extensively to medical students, EMTs, nurses, physicians, and National Park Service and U.S. Forest Service Rangers.

Elle began her career in the travel and tourism industry in 2009, spending two seasons as a camp counsellor in Michigan, USA.

Subsequently she joined a well-known high street agency, as a travel consultant before managing her own business as a mobile travel agent. Alongside her home-based travel business, Elle applied herself in community roles as event coordinator for the Albury Special Children’s Christmas Party, and boarding supervisor at Scots School Albury.

In 2019 Elle moved ‘across the ditch’ to New Zealand where she worked as activities coordinator and assistant manager at Queen Margaret College in Wellington and then onto Timaru Girls’ High School where she was appointed director of boarding.

Throughout her years of traveling abroad, some of her highlights include buying a van and travelling across Route 66, trekking in Rwanda to spend precious time with Mountain Gorillas, an expedition in Alaska, and eating her way across Mexico!

Elle believes strongly in youth advocacy and participation and finding meaningful experiential opportunities. She’ll always give something a go, whether its learning to snow ski at 33, or eating something interesting in a far off land!

Isobel is a former French, Spanish and Dance teacher, and relocated to Queensland with her husband after growing up in England. Isobel’s love for foreign travel stemmed from spending childhood summers with family in Bordeaux, and her passion for language and culture hasn’t stopped since. During her university career Isobel spent a year teaching English in the south of France, and formalised her adoration for learning by completing a teaching degree and Masters. In between work and studies, Isobel was lucky enough to chase picturesque sunsets and expand her personal travel experiences. Her favourite places are Gdansk and Essaouira because of the stories of the local people, anywhere in Italy for the unrivalled food culture, and Havana for its vibrant style and salsa dancing.

Isobel has spent the last 6 years teaching languages in UK schools, inspiring young people to broaden their (Student) Horizons and learn more about the world around them. Isobel has experienced first-hand the magic of authentic travel experiences for young people when taking her students on educational tours around Europe and is proud to be able to provide such experiences as part of the Student Horizons team.

Jess is originally from Ballarat, Victoria, born to a Māori mother from New Zealand and a British father from England. Her mixed heritage inspired her to explore the cultures of both countries, as well as Ireland—a destination she had always dreamed of visiting.

During her university studies in Melbourne, Jess embraced the opportunity to live and work on Hamilton Island for four years. She gained hands-on experience in the Tourism and Aviation sectors while enjoying the vibrant lifestyle of the Whitsundays, surrounded by the natural beauty of the Great Barrier Reef. After her time on the island, Jess moved to Brisbane with her fiancé before settling on the Sunshine Coast, where she built a loving family with two young children and two Cocker Spaniels.

For the past eight years, Jess has worked as a Practice Manager at a Financial Planning firm. With a passion for helping young people, Jess is excited to create opportunities for students to experience life-changing moments that give them the confidence to embark on new adventures.

Maureen MacConnell is a board-certified Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner providing mental health consultation and training in over 60 countries globally. She has advanced degrees in Clinical Psychology, Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing, and Organisational Leadership and Learning. Maureen has sixteen years experience as a mental health clinician both domestically and internationally. She currently serves as Chair of the Psychological Health of Traveler’s committee within the International Society of Travel Medicine, and believes in providing continuous, adaptive support for travelers in domestic and international settings.

A born and raised Floridian, Kait made New Zealand her permanent home in early 2012. When she was 14, she discovered a love for travel on her first overseas trip to Mexico and then subsequently spent her high school and university years hunting down and applying for any travel scholarship available so that she could experience more of the world.  She represented her hometown on a sister-city exchange program to Japan, swam with crocodiles while protecting turtle hatchlings in Costa Rica, taught English at schools in Russia, and backpacked through Europe before she discovered a love for modern art in the grand museums of London and Paris.

After completing a master’s degree in Art History from the University of Florida, Kait worked briefly in the art world before she discovered a way to blend her dual passions of art education and travel in a role at Student Horizons where she shapes educational tour opportunities for today’s high school students. She joined the Student Horizons family in 2015 and is grateful to have been part of the organisation’s incredible growth since then. She is proud to work for a values-based company in the student travel sector and maintains a particular interest in the Foundation of Student Horizons – a scholarship bursar for students from lower-income households in New Zealand and Australia travelling on school tours. Life has come full circle!

Kait still travels the world in her downtime, but now her toddler tags along on all the adventures. Outside of work, you can find Kait enjoying hiking, swimming, and yoga in New Zealand’s magnificent outdoors.

Born and raised in New Zealand, Indie now calls the Sunshine Coast home. Having lived in Scotland for the past two years she is happy to be back down under, soaking up the sun and beach life.

When she was 15, she went on a school expedition to Vietnam, this is where her passion for travel, connecting with different people and cultures was truly ignited. Since then, she has made travel a priority in her life and hopes to visit every continent (only two to go)! Whilst living in the UK she made the most of having Europe at her fingertips, some of her highlights being hiking through the mountains of Albania, visiting the Acropolis in Greece and sunset boat rides off the coast of Spain.

Since finishing school Indie has studied and worked in a variety of fields including teaching English as a foreign language (ESL), Sports and Exercise, supporting people with a disability and early childcare. She has a love for soccer (go Tillies), exploring the outdoors and getting stuck into a new creative project.

A born and raised Kiwi, Naomi made the move from New Zealand to the Sunny Coast after enjoying an Australia Working Holiday in 2023.

Naomi’s passion for travel and adventure started when she was 7 years old, on a trip to local villages in Fiji with her dad. This experience prompted a new excitement of discovering the world and learning about cultures different to her own. Since then, she has been able to enjoy some amazing trips to every continent (except Antartica). Naomi also has a big passion for youth and children, which led her to spend three months in 2024 volunteering alongside her husband in South-East Asia, North Africa, and South America. A highlight from this trip was using football and sports to connect with youth from children’s homes in Northern Thailand (and eating the delicious Thai food of course!)

After completing a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation back in NZ, Naomi enjoyed multiple years working as a school sports coordinator before setting off to travel the world. She is excited to be a part of Student Horizons where she can use her her travel experiences and passion for youth development, to create life changing experiences for others.

Originally from the Northern beaches of Sydney, Brooke moved to New Zealand in 2008 with her husband, Jamie. After spending seven amazing years in Auckland, they relocated their family to Brisbane in 2015 to set up the Student Horizons Brisbane office.

After completing her tertiary education with diplomas in Business and Design, Brooke has worked in design agencies around the world including Sydney, London and Auckland, before setting up her own design business in New Zealand.

A passion for travel was evident from a young age, with family trips across the ditch to New Zealand to visit relatives. Brooke’s eyes were well and truly opened to the world outside of what she knew when she embarked on a high school Concert Band Tour of the USA, visiting LA, San Francisco and Chicago. With her saxophone in hand, Brooke had well and truly got the travel bug!

An ‘OE’ to the UK enabled Brooke to fuel her passion for travel with extensive travel into Europe, then subsequently to North America, East Africa and the Pacific Islands. Brooke does admit that travelling nowadays with three young children is not quite the same but enriching on a different level.

Passionate about travel, sport and music, it is safe to say Andrew fits right into the team at Student Horizons.

Andrew was born and raised in Queensland, attending school at St Laurence’s in Brisbane. Andrew has always had a passion for music, with fond memories of playing the oboe, flute, and bass guitar with the school orchestra and concert band.

After majoring in software engineering and drama at The University of Queensland, Andrew set off on his travels to the USA working at a summer camp and independently travelling around the States. He then spent six years in the UK working in IT and DJing on the side! Trips back to the USA from London were frequent, as Andrew attended Gala Choruses in Denver, represented Australia in a global choir, and also played rugby in the Bingham Cup. Of course, Andrew also made the most of living so close to mainland Europe, with plenty of experiences in countries such as France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal.

Returning home to Brisbane, Andrew spent 8 years in the Queensland Police in a senior role within their IT department. Andrew’s extensive experience in IT and web development is indeed an asset to Student Horizons, as the business strives to continually innovate and lead from the front.