course
Environmental Biology I

Potentially one of the worst lecturers ever to grace Columbia's campus. I sat through his entire portion of EB and learned very little. His slides and persona were unengaging, though he is a sweet man who wants you to do well. Super easy grader. Just an abysmal teacher.

Naeem is a very engaging lecturer, with much personal experience to share. He taught only half of the course, and his tests were more general than the second professor's. Overall a good course, if you manage to stay on top of the material. Slideshows are online.

Gonzales took over the second half of the course. Her lectures were packed with information and she often went too quickly, ending class early. This made it difficult to catch everything. Also her tests were considerably more specific than the first professor's. It is evident that she enjoys what she does and knows much about the material, but she does go a bit fast. She will answer questions in class and via email, she is hard to find for office hours. Overall, a good course, just difficult to stay on top of the material.

This was the best class I have taken during my first semester at Columbia. As many reviews will tell you, lectures are not enough to get your grade. Reading the book is crucial for the exams. Still, I enjoyed the lectures very much, they were really inspirational, don't miss them. Taking extensive notes is not possible and unnecessary. If you don't have background it might be a good idea to read the book ahead in order to grasp the lectures in all their beauty .

I took this course a year ago and only have fond memories. You'll work hard for an A, but thats what college is for. Pollack is one of the more eloquent and inspirational science lecturers I've come across.

He knows what he's talking about, and can even be entertaining at times but READ THE BOOK! He says to use it as background but it's necessary to do the reading to follow the lectures at all (unless you have an extensive bio background). He has the worst handwriting I've ever seen, it's actually more like scribble, but will clarify if you ask. Be persistent with comments/questions- he insists he's open to it during class but often doesn't see raised hands. You can learn a lot from him but you really have to want it.