Exploring important issues
Bugs, human rights, and children’s tantrums. What do these have in common? University of Minnesota retirees received awards from UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program to continue their work in these fields.
John Bantle coordinates the PDGR awards and found three great people to share their ongoing explorations of important issues in our November Living Well Workshop via Zoom. In his introduction to the webinar, Bantle noted that more than 100 grants have gone out to University retirees since 2009.
Ralph Holzenthal joined us from Ecuador where he finds and identifies caddisflies. Trout fisher people will recognize the insect. For the rest of us, their relevance is as a measure of water quality since they spend their early lives in streams and lakes. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources and Pollution Control Agency monitor caddisflies in Minnesota, but the knowledge in Ecuador is far more limited. Holzenthal and his team collect the flies using a white bedsheet and blacklights at night (think outdoor home movies).
Barbara Frey is a well-known activist, teacher, and scholar of international human rights. In retirement she is actively working with several University units to create an archive reflecting local and, eventually, global work to prevent racial injustice, torture, and violence against women. Her PDGR award was for gathering oral histories. The funds supported hiring an undergraduate intern, creating electronic transcripts, and training on how to do oral histories. Frey shared examples from her interviews.
Michael Potegal used his expertise in behavioral neuroscience and clinical psychology to study the escalation of children’s tantrums even before he had a child to provide at-home experience. No, he doesn’t have an easy solution for tantrums, but he did develop an hypothesis about the hierarchy of escalation. His PDGR award allowed him to hire two biostatisticians to confirm his hypothesis using a large data set.
When asked how retirement has impacted their research, all three speakers agreed that retirement provides flexibility and the ability to concentrate on their interests. Holzenthal said it is amazing how much work you can get done when you’re not working!
If these stories have inspired you to explore an area or question you never quite resolved during your formal work years, go to the PDGR webpage for instructions on how to apply for a PDGR grant. Applications for 2024 funding are due December 31.
If you want to support the work of others, consider making a donation to the PDGR program. Donations made before December 31 will be doubled thanks to a $20,000 challenge grant made by a generous, anonymous donor.
—Julie Sweitzer, UMRA president-elect and Program Committee chair
Showcasing UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees
Tue, November 21 2023, 11am
Barbara Frey, Ralph Holzenthal, and Michael Potegal
PDGR grant recipients
Event to be held via Zoom.
Three recent recipients of awards from UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program will be featured during UMRA’s Living Well Workshop via Zoom on Tuesday, November 21. The PDGR program provides up to $5,000 for University retirees to continue their scholarship or to pursue new projects of interest.
The webinar will be hosted by John Bantle, PDGR Committee chair, who will give a brief overview of the grant program and then introduce the grant recipients to present highlights of their projects. The three projects address mental health in children, the University's human rights record, and changes in the earth's environment, all important issues for the University and the Minnesota public:
Michael Potegal, associate professor ad honorem in the Center for Allied Health, whose project is “Severity Hierarchy in the Temper Outbursts of a Large Cohort of Psychiatrically Referred Youth."
Barbara A. Frey, former director of the Human Rights Program in the Institute for Global Studies, whose project is “Minnesota’s Human Rights Stories.”
Ralph W. Holzenthal, professor emeritus in entomology, whose project is “Caddisfly Biodiversity of Ecuador.” Technology allowing, Dr. Holzenthal will be speaking to us from his project site in Ecuador.
Please join us to learn about this work and the PDGR program. Perhaps you will be stimulated to apply for an award yourself. Applications for funding starting April 1, 2024, will be accepted until December 31, 2023. You can find more information about the program, including the instructions for applying for 2024 funding, at umra.umn.edu > Service & Outreach > Grants for Retirees.
Please register for this free Zoom webinar and join us at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, November 21.
—John Bantle, PDGR Committee chair
Upcoming Events
We are fortunate to have UMRA member and former Minnesota Landscape Arboretum director Peter Moe to lead this approximately 3.7-mile hike at the Arboretum on Monday, May 6. Plan to have lunch together after the hike at the Eatery café inside the Oswald Visitor Center.
This session will continue the discussion begun in the May 8, 2023 session. See that article for details.
If you currently live in your own home or apartment, have you looked ahead to when you might want to consider a senior living option? Do you have any idea what those options might be? How much they cost? What they provide? UMRA’s May 14 workshop will provide an overview of the world of senior living and the basic information you need.
You’re invited to join the final Family History Interest Group meeting for 2023–24. This will be an opportunity to ask questions related to family history, share insights, talk about recent projects, and suggest topics for next year.
Stephanie Daily will lead the discussion of Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by best-selling author Mary Roach when the UMRA Book Club meets via Zoom at 2 p.m. on Friday, May 17.
The May 20 hike will start at the Historic Lift Bridge in Stillwater and go along the river to the new bridge, cross over and then back on the Wisconsin side, a total of approximately 5 miles. Most of the route is paved. We will eat lunch after at Brian's Bar and Grill in Stillwater. Car pooling will be available.
Climatologist and meteorologist Mark Seeley joined the U of M faculty in 1978 and has been a weekly commentator on Minnesota Public Radio since 1992. We are honored to welcome him as our guest speaker for UMRA’s May Luncheon Forum and 2024 Annual Meeting. He is always entertaining and informative.
UMRA’s Fourth Friday Book Club welcomes back, for the second time, author Julie Schumacher, U of M Regents professor of creative writing and English, for a conversation about her novel The Shakespeare Requirement.
We are in for a treat on June 3! Lynn Anderson, will lead us on trails at two parks near her Monticello home. Bring a bag lunch and we will gather in Lynn's yard along the Mississippi River for eating and socializing after the hike.
Get out to the ballpark with fellow UMRA members for the annual U of M Day at Target Field as the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland Athletics on June 14 at 7:10 p.m.
Please join us at 9:30 on June 17, 2024 for a walk around Lake Como in St. Paul before attending the UMRA Summer Social and Picnic starting at 11 at the Como Pavilion. A perfect opportunity to get in a walk before we gather to celebrate summer.
Picnic under the covered, open-air Como pavilion, gaze at the water, spy some birds, catch up with friends and former colleagues, and meet new members. We’ll have lunch with plenty of time for visiting and then compete in teams as we are challenged by our Quiz master(s)!
Healthy aging, mindfulness, fighting ageism, and more will be the focus of the third annual Age-Friendly University Day to be held on the U of M Twin Cities campus.