If you happened to take AP Environmental Science in high school, or already have a little knowledge on those concepts and are looking for a relatively easy GE, this class is definitely for you. Fricker is funny, laid back, and makes his lectures interesting. Any homework assigned can easily be completed in section each week.

Hands down the coolest professor I have had at UCLA thus far. TAKE HIM! A super chill guy that makes lectures fun and engaging, often jokes in class and also is very open and approachable if you ever need help.
The class had a midterm and a final (non-cumulative) the were pretty easy as long as you attend class and listen to what he saying. I skipped more than a few classes and as long as you take basic notes on the powerpoints and you listen to audio, that's all the real studying you need. Although he doesn't podcast, he does record audio of his lectures and then posts his powerpoints both on CCLE. As for the book, it wasn't really necessary for the lab, or for exams, because his powerpoints cover everything you need to know. That being said, having the textbook is helpful as it reinforces the ideas presented in lecture.
The bulk of your grade comes from your lab section though, where you will have almost all 'group work'. I say 'group work' because you do have to talk to other people in lab but not really have to work outside of lab with them. There are some minor group presentations you have to do here and there that are all in lab and not that bad at all, just have to talk for 3-5 minutes as s group. There are more assignments here and there but all are very doable. Now, the big chunk of your grade will stem from a final research paper you have to turn in week 10. This one of those things that you don't want to procrastinate on because it is so easy to put it off but as long as you give the essay a good week to two weeks you're good. My TA was amazing and very chill but she made progress assignments for the essay to make sure that we wouldn't leave it to the last minute which was really helpful.
Overall the best class to take for your Lab GE and the professor makes the material very interesting and makes it all relevant to stuff going on today. TAKE HIM!

The class is good only for those who are native and able to memorize those tree names by haearing the name. But for those who dont know how to spell many terms you gonna struggle with this class. The material is not that interesting for me as well.

One of my favorite classes I've taken at UCLA. Definitely the most applicable. Fricker is an awesome professor and lecturer. He's very laid back but also clearly passionate about his subject and makes you want to be interested in it too. Fricker and this class actually made me decide to be a Geography/Environmental Studies major. Fricker is very approachable and tries to make lectures engaging. As any class, the experience can be jeopardized by a poor TA. My TA was not my favorite but Fricker and the material made up for it. The textbook was expensive ($100) and you had to buy it as it contained the lab material. I know it was his first quarter doing that so I'm not sure if it'll continue into the future. LASTLY, it's extremely awesome for non-science majors because it fulfills one of the science GEs and the lab component. One group project/paper at the end, two multiple-choice test, very manageable. Would absolutely recommend this class :)

Dr. Fricker was awesome, and made the class really fun and engaging. The textbook was a little annoying to deal with/expensive, but most of the questions on the tests were based off of the lectures anyways. A great class with a reasonable amount of work. I highly recommend taking a class with Fricker!