This class is super TA dependent and honestly those grade distributions do not seem correct considering how harshly/badly our TA grades. The work itself is not the best either.

The lectures were really fun and overall I really enjoyed the class, but the exams were a bit unfair in my opinion. A lot of questions seemed like trick questions, or the wording would just be very very weird. I was very confident before taking the final, but for so any questions it seemed like there was not a good solid answer. Not to mention that the "practice exam" was literally 9 super easy questions and nothing like the real thing.
Gorlitsky loved giving a lot of pop "quizzes" for attendance so participation really matters. Lectures aren't recorded but she never really said anything that wasn't on the slides. I really enjoyed her lectures and teaching style, my only complain for this class would be the exams and how long it took for our assignments to get graded.

Dr. Gorlitsky is probably the best teacher that I have had at UCLA. Super nice, engaging, knowledgeable, caring,.. the list goes on. If you are a biology major and genuinely care about ecology and have a general interest in conservation, you will love this class. The material is easy to understand; many biology majors already have had some exposure to the material. This class was like a culmination of all the conservation efforts that I have heard of in the past.
The tests are fairly easy as long as you put the work in; don't expect an easy A. Dr. G apparently only gives one A+ per class, but don't be discouraged! It's graded straight scale with no real curve, so everybody can do well. I definitely learned something useful for the future and hope to use what I learned to contribute to conservation.

If you need an EEB major class, I highly recommend this over any other! Best class and teacher from UCLA!

Class itself wasn't that bad. The material was fairly easy and straightforward. Leryn would just read off of her slides, but you had to go to lecture because she took attendance every week pretty much. The exams were all multiple choice and the class was graded on a straight scale, but there weren't many people who got As. Lots of B+ and B grades when I took the class. Once again, the material isn't hard, but it's not necessarily easy to get an A either.

Animal Behavior Textbook (Tenth Edition) and Elements of Ecology (Ninth Edition) [for the second half of the course] for sale, both in excellent condition

email: *************

I have the ecology book I'm selling it for real cheap like 30$. Text me if you want it **********

The materials covered in this class is not hard, but it is still not an easy-A class.

I recommend reading the textbook for the animal behavior portion of the class. It really clarified the ideas presented in lecture, so I felt like the final was pretty straightforward.

I definitely recommend taking Conservation Biology with Dr. Gorlitsky in the summer! She's a young professor so I'm not surprised there aren't any reviews on her yet, but she also teaches EEB 151A and EEB 100. I'll start off by saying she is an amazing professor! Her lecture slides give the perfect amount of detail; they basically summarize everything you need to know, and she will tell you ahead of time exactly what you will be tested on for the midterm and final. Her teaching method tends to be fast-paced, making her lectures more engaging. As long as you pay attention and study your notes, it is definitely possible to get an A or a B. Dr. Gorlitsky has a way of inspiring students to make a difference in the world, and you can tell she truly cares about the well-being of our environment. Overall, she's a chill, kind, and down-to-earth person who will hopefully leave a positive impact with you like she did with me :)

Dr. Gorlitsky is my favorite professor at UCLA. I've taken 3 different classes with her and I can see she genuinely cares about her students and gives many opportunities for extra credit and easy points (i.e., attendance points). The material is pretty straightforward but since there were two professors teaching this class when I took it, I did worse on their midterm than Dr. Gorlitsky's portion. Overall a really great class.