Overall I really liked this class. Dr. Daversa is very knowledgeable and passionate about his lectures. You’ll learn a lot about interesting subjects in ecology and how to read scientific papers effectively. Every week there are assigned readings which he quizzes you on, which could be manageable if you spend enough time on reading them and finding the key points. Exams are fair but tricky in the way that there’s no rubric so it’s hard to know what exactly they’re looking for in your answers. Definitely take this class if you want to learn interesting stuff and have enough time to dedicate to it.

Honestly not a hard class but really boring. Attendance is mandatory for everything including discussion which honestly sucked. The only way you get an excused absence was with a doctors note which was so frustrating when I was dealing with a really bad cold and had to figure out how to get one in time. Discussions are pretty fun since you get split into groups to debate a scientific paper. Overall, very manageable class but not very engaging.

Dr. Daversa was a phenomenal professor. I wasn't super interested in ecology but Dave made this class super interesting. Attendance is pretty much mandatory (quizzes and points are given in class + need excuses to be made up), but lectures weren't too complicated neither were slides too content heavy. His exams are super fair, and so are the quizzes. As long as you do the readings and go to lecture, you'll do good. This was my fave class of the quarter!