| SCOV/ILR SAMPLERS 2025 | ||
| SCOV Institute for Learning in Retirement (ILR) offers free, no-registration required, weekly presentations to all residents of our community. All Samplers are on Thursdays, 2 to 3 PM at Catalina Vista. Watch the ILR website as well as the Tipster and TWISCOV for announcements of each Sampler. Membership cards required for entrance to Catalina Vista. | ||
| Oct 2 | “Geocaching 101″Speaker: John Smith Geocaching is a treasure hunt that you can do alone, or with friends and family using a smart phone and the geocaching app. It can be simple or complicated. Some require solving puzzles from easy to hard. This class will teach you how to scout for the many nearby geocaches. | |
| Oct 9 | “Reid Park Zoo: Wildlife Conservation during Climate Change” Speaker: Kristin Ulvestad, Education Coordinator Join Reid Park Zoo educator to learn about the conservation programs the zoo supports around the world as well as how those programs, and the animals they work to protect, are being affected by climate change. | |
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| Oct 16 | “Federal Reserve, Interested?”Speaker: Dale Roskum, Former chief operating officer Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Could the Federal Reserve reduce the federal deficit by $1 Trillion? Lower mortgage and business loan rates? Come to find out more, including a brief history of the Fed, its mission, recent controversies and challenges. | |
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| Oct 23 | “Saudi Arabia: From Oil Discovery to a Sustainable Future.” Speaker: Karen Giuffe An Expatriate’s Observations; what’s it like to live in Saudi Arabia? Karen Giuffre and her family lived in Dhahran for almost 10 years. Her life at ARAMCO, as well as an unexpected invitation to return years later, has given her an enriching perspective on the Kingdom’s past, present, and future. | |
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| Oct 30 | “San Xavier Mission Church and Ongoing Preservation” Speaker: Miles Green, Director, Patronato San Xavier San Xavier del Bac is Arizona’s oldest European structure and a masterpiece of Spanish Colonial architecture. It was initially founded by Padre Kino in 1692 and completed in 1797. Patronato San Xavier funds its ethical conservation and teaches about its significance. | |
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| Nov 6 | “Tractor Trip across the US for Parkinson Awareness” Speaker: Mike Adkinson, SCOV resident Mike Adkinson drove a tractor 3,600 miles for 6 weeks at 15 miles per hour from Washington to Minnesota and back to raise money for Parkinson’s research. His brother had just been diagnosed. He drove in snow, sleet and hot sun and met wonderful people along the way. He raised over $85,000 for research, using a QR code on the side of the tractor. You’ll hear many stories of interest, help and the caring human spirit. | |
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| Nov 13 | “Solar Energy for SCOV and You” Speaker: Dale Foster With a strong background in Solar Engineering and many years working as a renewable energy specialist, Dale will discuss the features and performance of SCOV’s completed solar projects and will offer insights and guidance to homeowners interested in lowering their own energy bills. | |
| Nov 20 | “Chimps and Humans, how they compare and differ” Speaker: Jacob Negrey, UofA Anthropology professor Dr Negrey is a biological anthropologist and primatologist. He is broadly interested in behaviors, disease and aging. He directs the Applied Primate Eco-omics (A.P.E.) Lab at the University of Arizona. The lab group applies noninvasive “omics” methods (e.g., microbiomics) to tackle ecological questions with relevance for human welfare and nonhuman primate conservation alike. The study focuses primarily on chimpanzees at Ngogo in Kibale National Park, Uganda. | |
| Feb 5 | “Immunology etc. How our immune system works and how we and science can help strengthen it” Speaker: Susan Radka (SCOV resident) Sue will discuss how Immunotherapy, which is now one of the more recent treatments for diseases, including cancer, and autoimmune diseases, was developed. She will review how it works and the hurdles to be overcome for wider use. Her science degrees are from the U of Pittsbury Medical School, U of Pennsylvania Medical School and Duke University Medical School. Her work was with Genetic Systems Corp, Brystol-Myers Squibb, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and others. | |
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| Feb 12 | “A New Burial Option for Arizonans – Natural Organic Reduction” Speaker: Mary Ganapol, Natural Organic Reduction of Arizona Natural Organic Reduction (NOR) for human remains is an accelerated decomposition process using natural microbes, oxygen, and plant materials. The resulting soil can be returned to families or used for environmental restoration. NOR reduces carbon emissions and resource-intensive burial practices. | |
| Feb 19 | “Meteorology, the science of Weather Forecasting ” Speaker: Eyad Attallah, UofA Professor of Practice at the Department of Hydrology and Atmospheric Science Eyad has been a life-long weather enthusiast with a varied background, including operational forecasting, television, as well as academia. He studies extreme weather events and climate change with over 300 peer-reviewed publications on extreme precipitation events and droughts in western North America. He is also an intermittent tornado-chaser and has participated in about 10 tornado chases, including leading two storm-chasing field courses. | |
| Feb 26 | “Perspective Changes Everything”Speaker: Kevin Harney, LPC Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is today’s most commonly used talk therapy. By providing strategies to replace negative thoughts with realistic, positive thinking, CBT can change patients’ feelings, resulting in more adaptive behaviors. | |
| Mar 5 | “Zero Waste: Tips for Reducing Single-Use Products in Your Daily Life.” Speaker: Kevin Greene, Chair of Sustainable Tucson’s Zero Waste Committee A retired Arizona environmental officer will discuss the heavy toll single-use disposable items have on the environment. He will give you simple and practical tips for reducing commonly single-use items. | |
| Mar 12 | TBA (To Be Arranged) | |
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| Mar 19 | “Climate Philanthropy can make a difference – examples and personal experiences in the Global South” Speaker: Susan Cook, consultant with the non-profit, Climate Plus | |
| Mar 26 | TBA (To Be Arranged) |