Dr Velander's practical expertise spans mental health, workplace health, and organisational and community development. Over the course of his career, he has worked extensively with health and wellbeing in both the private and government sectors across Australia and internationally. His community-focused work has been concentrated in remote and rural settings, engaging with both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

This breadth of experience has informed a rigorous mixed-methods research approach, encompassing survey research, qualitative and quantitative methodologies, yarning circles, community consultations, and organisational health screenings. As a First Nations Sami person - the Indigenous peoples of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia - Dr Velander brings an Indigenous ecological perspective to his scholarship and practice.

He serves as an active reviewer for a number of peer-reviewed academic journals.

Dr Velander has developed, taught, and coordinated a wide range of subjects across the full social work and human services curriculum, spanning the Doctor of Social Work, Bachelor of Social Work, and Bachelor of Human Services programs. Drawing on his expertise in mental health, he has designed and delivered subjects including Climate Change and Mental Health, Addiction, Suicide Prevention, and Family and Child Protection. His background in organisational practice has also informed subjects in Organisational Development, Leadership, and Social Work Theory and Practice.

Dr Velander also supervises higher degree research candidates at Honours, Masters, and Doctoral levels.

Dr Velander's research is primarily focused on mental health, approached from multiple intersecting perspectives. Given the central role that work occupies in adult life, he is particularly committed to advancing healthy and sustainable working environments at both national and international levels, with an emphasis on preventing occupational harm.

As an educator, Dr Velander is engaged in innovative curriculum development and the advancement of mental health education in higher education contexts. He is a collaborator in a multi-university initiative involving Australian and Canadian partners, examining how mental health social work is taught and how the professional identity of social workers in this field can be strengthened. His research also addresses trauma - exploring how factors such as gender, age, ethnicity, culture, spirituality, and lived experience shape an individual's response - as well as the mental health impacts of climate change and the therapeutic potential of practices such as yoga and mindfulness in trauma-informed care.

• Member, School Assessment Committee
• Member, MDPI Healthcare Editorial Office

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