Professor Zackey is one of the best professors I've had at UCLA. He's incredibly knowledgable of the material and very engaging. I am a North Campus major and am not usually interested in science at all, but I genuinely enjoyed Geo 5. Zackey used a more "social-science" approach to the material which I really liked- our labs were designed more as discussions, and we had weekly write-ups on selected articles. Overall, I feel like I really did take away some valuable lessons and info from this class; I didn't feel like I was just memorizing material that I would forget after the end of the quarter. Zackey makes the class really applicable and enjoyable. Definitely the best science GE I've taken thus far. Also, Timur Hammond is an incredible TA. He's really passionate about the subject and is very eager to help.

Zackey's a great professor to take a class with. His lectures are straightforward and he clearly states what he expects from you for the midterm and final, which can be aced with pure memorization. Attendance for lecture is mandatory since he doesn't post lectures online, but it's a small price to pay. There is no textbook which is a plus, just a few articles to read online per week for discussion. I'd definitely recommend him for an interesting and relatively simple G.E.

No doubt Zackey is the best teacher i have had thus far at UCLA, very enthusiastic about his subject and easy to understand. Only downside of class is you must attend lectures as he does not post the notes online, otherwise a great class.

Zackey is a great professor! The course grade is made up of the Midterm, Final, and Labs. I wasn’t interested in d subject and just enrolled because there was space & it fit in to my schedule, but I ended up liking the course. The material was not as difficult or boring as I thought it would be or at least the professor didn’t make it seem like it. The exams are based completely on lecture (don’t buy the book, you only need it if you want to expand on the material & you can see in Powell). So it is crucial to attend to all lectures or at least get & review the notes from someone. Also don’t miss the review session (its basically held the class before the exam) it is extremely helpful because you can as him what you are confused about & he will be great at explaining it. Got an A.

Zackey is a wonderful professor and just really an overall good guy. This class was incredibly interesting. Probably not the easiest GE class you can take, but it's definitely manageable. There is a midterm, final and discussion grade. For this class it’s absolutely necessary to attend lecture. Midterm and Final are both heavily and almost entirely focused on lecture, with short essay questions and fill in the blank questions. Reading is used more as additional material to further explain topics than to teach the material. There is no book, just articles. Discussion is straightforward; weekly write up, participation and such. There is a curve to the class, which makes it that much greater. Also, this class is a great choice for North Campus majors since it looks at people’s impact on the environment from different social, political and economic perspectives. So stuff we’re familiar with it haha. Overall good class, funny interesting professor, and not a GPA killer.