معرفی
Melissa Laing is an Associate Lecturer in Social Work and Human Services at RMIT University's School of Global, Urban and Social Studies (Melbourne, Australia). She also co-leads the Gender and Social Change theme in the Social Equity Research Centre (SERC). Her research focuses on the Human-Animal Bond's implications for marginalized groups, particularly intersections of gender-based violence, animal abuse, and poverty. She integrates post-anthropocentric and intersectional perspectives into social work pedagogy and has pioneered industry partnerships linking social work education with veterinary and pet therapy settings.
Education & Research: Melissa is pursuing a PhD centered on human-animal bond dynamics in human services. Her transdisciplinary work spans social work, sociology, and animal studies. Recent presentations include the 2023 European Conference on Domestic Violence in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Teaching: Melissa teaches critical social work approaches at undergraduate levels and supervises field education, embedding human-animal bond principles. She has developed innovative studio pedagogy frameworks for social work training.
Sustainability Goals: Her work aligns with UN SDGs including Gender Equality (#5), No Poverty (#1), Quality Education (#4), and Reduced Inequalities (#10).
Collaborations: Built partnerships between RMIT and animal welfare organizations for work-integrated learning. Supervised student placements in veterinary hospitals and pet therapy contexts.
