Professor Dines is a very nice and personable instructor that has a clear passion for Marine Mammology. I would recommend taking this class if you have an interest in learning about marine mammals or are looking for an interesting upper div unit. While I wouldn't necessarily call this class an "easy A", if you watch the lectures (in person or recorded on Zoom) and take good notes on his slides there is a pretty straightforward path to success in this class.

Class Structure:
There are 3 lecture exams (two during weeks 1-10, and one during finals week) as well as one 8-9 page research paper (on a topic of your choosing) for the class. This may seem like a lot, however, the paper was graded relatively easily (avg was an A/A-) and the exams were non-cumulative (mostly short-answer with some multiple choice) and pretty straightforward as long as you took good notes on his lecture slides. The avg for the exams was usually A-/B+. For discussion, there are weekly research papers to read and leave annotations on which you would get full credit for as long as you completed them.

*Note: At the time of this review this class was only offered for letter grade and not for P/NP*

Really interesting class if you're into 1) evolution and the nitty-gritty of how vertebrates came to be how they are etc and 2) like dissections, but being a 6 unit class, very content-heavy. You're basically taking two classes in one, with there being exams that center on lecture content (more short answers/showing you understand the material) and lab exams (more memorization and identification of muscles, organs, etc). All the dates and expectations are laid out for you in the beginning, Dines is a very helpful and funny guy, and the TAs (at least this quarter) are a heaven-send for lab. Go to TA office hours!!

That being said, tough class, you have to cram a lot of knowledge into your head and start studying earlier than you think. Most of us including me probably underestimated the first lecture and lab exams and got low scores (borderline fail for me on the first lab exam), but Dines and the TAs do give opportunities for extra credit in the form of a museum trip and filling out the evals. I also learned from how badly I prepared for the first lecture and lab exams and improved from there.

TLDR: tough but rewarding and interesting class, just start studying and preparing earlier than you think, as well as asking questions. also lean on each other as students/ask questions in lab esp. - like in HSM, we're all in this together

Class was at 9:30am and was not recorded. Professor Dines was a great person and you could tell he enjoyed teaching and the content. He was funny. HOWEVER, this was the WORST class I have ever taken and I've taken ochem, physics, and a ton of random classes. There were 5 exams total and you had one almost every other week by week 3. You have to memorize the traits, family groups, suborders etc. for up to a hundred, if not, more species. BTW they weren't normal names, they were biological names, imagine having to memorize words like tachyglossidae. I almost cried tears this one week I didn't have an exam for this class, my housemates even said I looked happier that week. There were 3 lecture exams and 2 lab practical. The lectures and lab exams WERE NOT THE SAME IN THE SLIGHTEST BIT so it was like taking 2 separate classes. Lab exams had like 36 stations with multiple skulls to examine in a station and you get 2min each. DO NOT TAKE THIS CLASS UNLESS U WANT THE WORST QUARTER OF UR LIFE AND LOVE PAIN. I would not wish this on my worst enemies. If I could go back, I would tell myself to run.