Qualified and SWE registered Social Worker with Child Protection experience in Frontline Practice, Quality assurance and children safeguarding, Substance Misuse and Mental Health, Senior Management, multi-agency protocols, Interprofessional working, and Strategic and Business development within young people and adult substance / alcohol services within in NHS and Social Care. Working within a range of public sector services settings since 1997 until joining SHU in 2007. Marelize is a senior fellow with Advance HE.

Marelize qualified as a social worker at the University of the North West in South Africa in 1997, where she completed her Masters in Social Work and Addiction Studies. She is currently working as a deputy head of school - health and social care within the College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences.  She held several leadership roles within the Social Work, Social Care and Community Studies Subject group ( principal lecturer for LTA).  She has experience of being a course leader for the Masters in Social Work, a postgraduate qualifying course and BSC Nursing (learning disability) and Social Work degree.

She has experiences of teaching Interprofessional education provision of the College, and has an interest in Dual Diagnosis, Substance Misuse and Mental Health. She has undertaken research into the effectiveness of aftercare services for service user's experiencing substance misuse problems as well as consultancy work alongside the Nursing Subject Group on Addition Studies for the local NHS Primary Care Trust. Most recently funded research focussing on community of belonging around alcohol within the region.

Marelize completed her Master's in Public Sector Management at Westminster University in 2010 with the focus on change management and transition. Other activities include writing a chapter for Learning Matters alongside colleagues on Introducing International Social Work. Marelize also presented at the JSWEC Conference on her Professional Doctorate Research focusing on social work students perceptions of their readiness for practice. Experience of external examiner duties and peer reviewer for a substance misuse text in 2014-2017. Marelize also submitted abstracts to the International Social Work Practice education conference in South Africa and Social Work Practice Education conference. Recent publications within social work practice learning and social work education during 2020 and 2024 with a focus on CPD and social worker critical reflections.  Marelize is also a member of BASW Specialist interest group for substance misuse and alcohol. She is a school governor and a trustee with a local substance misuse service.

Marelize has a passion for international social work, working with marginalised groups and promote decolonisation of the social work curriculum. She has led on setting up international social work placements within South Africa and Lesotho working alongside 5 HEI's Social Work Departments.

Specialist areas of interest

Marelize is interested in student resilience, organisational management, culture and change as well as student engagement, self-efficacy, dual diagnosis, parental substance misuse, alcohol and mental health and domestic violence. She is also interested in social work professional processes of APIR, interprofessional working and professional identity. In relation to research paradigms Marelize has a keen interest in Mixed Methodology and Realism, Pragmatism in social work.