Featured Experts

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  Yaidi Cancel Martinez

  Center for Economic Development, College of Letters & Scienceycmartin@uwm.edu

  Cancel Martinez can discuss why rents are rising and other housing-related issues in the Milwaukee area.

  

  Yaidi Cancel Martinez

  Center for Economic Development, College of Letters & Scienceycmartin@uwm.edu

  Rents in Milwaukee have increase around $100 a month over the past year. Yaidi Cancel Martinez can talk about why this is happening, how the Midwest compares to other parts of the United States and how rising rents can impact households. Her research focuses on rental housing, labor markets and quality-of-life indicators.

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  Carrie Fleider

  University Counseling Servicesfleider@uwm.edu

  Fleider can speak about ways that college students can manage stress or seek help with the end of the school year approaching.

  

  Carrie Fleider

  University Counseling Servicesfleider@uwm.edu

  May can be a challenging month for some college students with finals and, for graduating seniors, a transition to a new phase of life. Carrie Fleider can discuss ways that students can manage stress or seek help as they approach the end of the school year. She can talk about how the pandemic has affected how colleges and universities offer mental health services. A licensed clinical social worker, Fleider can also discuss mood disorders and trauma-related mental health concerns.

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  Jennifer Kahn-Pettigrew

  Social Work, Helen Bader School of Social Welfarekahnpet2@uwm.edu

  Kahn-Pettigrew can talk about the importance of challenging perceptions and attitudes about aging.

  

  Jennifer Kahn-Pettigrew

  Social Work, Helen Bader School of Social Welfarekahnpet2@uwm.edu

  Research shows that perceptions of older adults – and how we feel about our own aging – is decided when we are young. Jennifer Kahn-Pettigrew can talk about ways to challenge perceptions and attitudes about aging and older adults. She is the UWM campus representative for AARP’s Disrupt Aging Classroom, an interactive program that promotes positive views of aging and delves into the aging trend’s impact on students’ careers, families and communities. May is Older Americans Month, and census estimates show adults 65 and older are one of the fastest-growing age groups in the country.

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  Sarah Riforgiate

  Communication, College of Letters & Sciencesriforgi@uwm.edu

  Riforgiate can discuss how the frustration and bad behavior of customers during the pandemic has affected public-facing workers.

  

  Sarah Riforgiate

  Communication, College of Letters & Sciencesriforgi@uwm.edu

  Many workers have had a difficult two years trying to satisfy agitated customers during the pandemic. Riforgiate can describe “emotional labor,” which is when workers who are paid to interact “fake” emotions to meet expectations. For example, workers are often expected to be calm and pleasant when customers are rude. How does this increased pressure affect workers? Does it seep into their personal lives? Is that a reason many workers have left their jobs during the “Great Resignation?” Riforgiate can discuss what workers and employers can do about emotional labor.