Pros:
- Professor Gillespie is very engaging. You can tell he's passionate about what he teaches, and that he wants to make sure students understand and learn from him well.
- He's also extremely nice––if you email him, he'll respond, or if you have questions, he's happy to help. I had a family emergency and he was very understanding and generous with the accommodations I needed.
- He gives you a study guide before the midterm and final with basically every concept you'd need to know listed. Granted, it's terribly formatted and organized and you have to spend forever finding the answers in his slides/lecture notes (so I'd use Quizlets instead if I were you, that's what I did and I did well) but they're good for checking that you know everything, and he's very nice for telling us what's on the test.
- The TA's are also great! I heard great things about a couple of them, especially Isabel James.

Cons:
- If you don't care about geography, this class is not going to be enjoyable. Although it really does help, a passionate professor doesn't make a subject bearable if you hate it. We had to draw a world map on the midterm, which was the worst, and memorizing giant blocks of information that you don't like is painful. A couple hours of cramming was enough to do well, though.
- He said the tests were going to be multiple choice, and they were short answer. Study like they're going to be short answer. I lost a couple points on the midterm because I skimmed sections, thinking I'd be able to pick out wrong or right answers out of the multiple choice.
- Group project at the end. Mine was right after the final was due, which is super annoying (Week 10.) TA strikes this year put it online, though so was manageable.

TLDR; Easy class with passionate, funny, and helpful professor. Think about taking something else if memorizing big blocks of information about geography and drawing a map from scratch sound like hell to you.

This class was SO GOOD! Would definitely recommend for anyone who is looking for an easy GE or a GPA boost. The midterm and final were just questions that Professor gives prior to the exam and on his review sheet. So if you go to lectures and make notes you will be fine. Also the midterm and final were not stressful at all and you were given three days to complete it on your own. The lab portion was also very easy and you just had to show up and complete the worksheets weekly. Also there was a group presentation given on endangered species. This was very straightforward and everything you need to discuss is given by your TA. Lastly, the content (I found) was very interesting if you are interested in learning about the environment etc.

I loved this class, it was super easy and the material was actually interesting. Prof Gillespie is so cool and the labs were fun and did not take too much effort or time. I had Kate as my TA and she was super nice and also very understanding. There is barely any work for this class you just have to show up for labs, and there is a group project due in week 10. Highly recommend it as an easy GE to fill a lab credit!

As its name and course description suggests, this is a pretty straightforward environmental geography class, although I'd say the "ecosystems" part is a lot more emphasized than the "people" part. Professor Gillespie sped through his lectures fairly quickly (the number of off-days meant he sometimes had to combine two lectures' worth of content into one), which made following along and taking notes kind of tough at times, though he does post his slides; his slides do contain a lot of spelling and grammar errors though, sometimes it takes a bit to figure out what he means. There's no homework, and Gillespie sends out a detailed study guide that contains all the topics on the midterm and final, so there's really nothing to sweat about; the exams are mostly based on memorization though, that would probably be my biggest knock on this class.

Since this class is very big (300 enrolled in my quarter), there are a lot of TA's, and from what I've heard their quality is highly variable. I would definitely recommend Kate Cavanaugh (not to be confused with Professor Kyle Cavanaugh who sometimes teaches this class), she was very receptive to student concerns and questions. I did hear about other TA's being terrible with entering grades and responding to emails though.

TAKE THIS CLASS!! Dr. Gillespie is absolutely wonderful. He is obviously incredibly knowledgable about what he's teaching, and not only that, but HE IS ALSO PASSIONATE ABOUT TEACHING IT.

The best class that I took this fall!! The professor is extremely nice, does not require you to purchase a textbook, and never gives out homework. I took this class virtually but had an in-person lab. The lab had a very light workload, and at the end, there is a group project where you will study an endangered species. The midterm in this class was worth 30% but it was easy, worksheet style and it was the same way for the final. Overall, this class is pretty straight forwards and a good GE. If you have the opportunity I would totally recommend taking it!!! It allows you to learn new things, the professor is great, and as long as you show up for class you will be just fine.

This is a super easy - and also interesting - class. Great GE. The prof is so understanding of the fact that college students are preoccupied with more than just their science GE, and nevertheless makes the class something I want to attend every week. The midterm and final are take home and very straightforward fill in the blank tests. Class is never longer than 45 minutes. No textbook. The final was during week 10 so we could all have a longer winter break. Gillespie really cares about his students and it’s so evident.

Professor Gillespie was a wonderful professor and always made lectures very engaging and enjoyable. He recorded the lectures as well, so if you couldn't attend lecture or missed something, you could rewatch the lecture. His tests were 24 hours and not hard if you study with the study guides he provides. He added some much-needed humor in class and oftentimes finished lectures early so he would let students out before. Overall, a wonderful professor and if you are curious about geography or want a relatively easy GE, this is the class.

This man is the GOAT. I literally passed the class with an A+. He tells so many jokes and makes the class so interesting just show up to decisions and do the weekly labs that literally take one hour each week. Your grade will consist of a midterm, final, group project, and weekly lab assignment. I fr didn't even show up to the last 3 classes bc it was so easy. The class required no textbook and the midterm and final were all based of the lecture and slides. He would not test us on anything that was not in the slides which were posted online. He gives you an entire list of 20-50 questions that could possibly be on the midter/final (he literally just asks the same questions, just copied and pasted). his midterms are mostly short answers but can be answered with one-word answers. SUPER EASY GE

This guy is one of the better professors I've had at UCLA. His jokes are actually funny and he keeps you interested during lecture. Probably one of the only classes where I watched all of the lectures. If you want an interesting class that makes you more familiar with the world without having to memorize basic and useless information, take this one.