About us

[box title="OUR AIMS:" color="#626a44"]Volunteer work abroad can provide an opportunity to really make a difference. Whether through community work, conservation organisations, research projects or teaching, volunteering can be a life changing experience and can be a great way to travel.

We at valueofvolunteering.org want to share our experiences of what volunteer work can really be like. Through our video documentary we want to show the breadth of volunteer opportunities available, help you choose which project is right for you and provide information on how to find such projects. We will also show how good grass-roots organisations are run and how volunteer work is best applied to the specific cause of the organisation.[/box]

THE EXPEDITION:

Between January and May 2012 we travelled from Guatemala to Panama visiting 14 different volunteer projects in conservation, ranging from reforestation and protected areas management to animal rescue centres and single species conservation efforts such as marine turtle projects. Information on each project we visited is available on the map below as well as with the documentary episode on which they appear.

 

WHO WE ARE:

We are a brother and sister team of biologists with a keen interest in travel and conservation. We also both share in a great passion for filmmaking and other artistic pursuits such as photography, painting and scientific illustration.


Michael Garrett is a biology graduate from the University of East Anglia. Alongside his studies he has built extensive experience travelling and living abroad and is passionately interested in learning about foreign cultures and social mindsets.
Katherine Garrett graduated from Durham University with a Natural Sciences degree, specialising in biology with anthropology. She has since spent several years as a research assistant in the botany department of the Natural History Museum. Over the last six years she has been involved in numerous volunteer projects in Latin America and Africa. She has recently co-authored a book on snake taxonomy.