Kwelm was a female Tellarite who served in Starfleet in the 24th century. By 2385, she commanded the USS Laplace attached to the Starfleet Corps of Engineers.
In November, 2385, while conducting a refit upgrade of the transmitter units on the Corvus Beacon in the Beta Quadrant, the Laplace was contacted by Capt. Ezri Dax of the USS Aventine ordering them to immediately evacuate all personnel aboard the beacon. In the absence of further information Kwelm's first officer thought it best to do as Capt. Dax said, she conceded and contacted the beacon ordering all personnel to evaluate. While trying to explain their situation to Dax, Kwelm was interrupted by RADM. William Riker to comply with Dax's orders, unaware of the situation on board Aventine and the changes made to Riker by the Cytherians. While demanding an explanation without compliance the Aventine opened phasers on the beacon, to which Kwelm demanded the support team beam back to Laplace. Despite not wanting to attack the Aventine in fear of damaging the beacon, Kwelm was ordered by Capt. Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise-E to assist in stopping Aventine and Riker. Kwelm was passionate about the outpost and would fight to protect it putting up a spirited struggle in the process, but during the engagement Laplace soared into a cloud of burning wreckage of damaged components from the assault on the beacon. Unable to continue pursuing Aventine, Kwelm asked Capt. Picard to stop Riker before continuing to inflict further damage again. (TNG novel: Takedown)