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