I know people are always like DO NOT TAKE CLASS and I always ignore it. DO NOT IGNORE THIS.
This was the biggest hit to my GPA I have had at UCLA. He doesn't even know what he is talking about half the time. The only reason he is allowed to teach this class is because he just came out with a book on soil conservation study he did over 15 YEARS AGO. He had to stop us every 5 minutes while taking the final and the midterm because he couldn't even write a test correctly. The class is very science based and he assumes you understand physics and geology.
I pay attention every time I go to class, I take great notes, but honestly it's nearly impossible to even take notes in his class because it's such a cluster.
Not to mention over half of the class dropped before the quarter was over. I think there were 15 people left in the class at the end. I should have dropped it like the rest of them.

M107

DON'T TAKE THIS CLASS. IT'S THE WORST CLASS I HAVE EVER TAKEN AND REGRET IT! Professor Trimble is nice, but that doesn't mean he won't load you with 120+ pages worth of reading over a two day period. He almost refuses to acknowledge that you have work and classes other than his. His soil report is easy to do but his tests are difficult. Also, the books definitions don't apply to his tests, he wants you to use his outdated, very specific, definitions. Oh and not to mention that he is the most boring lecturer ever! He tends to go on tangents and doesn't really know how to structure tests or teach for that matter.

Professor Trimble is very knowledgeable about soils, their uses, etc., however his lectures are BEYOND BORING. If you're into soils and erosion prevention planning, then by all means, take the course, otherwise I would try and steer clear of his class. For three hours, we had to listen to him rant on and on about the same things that he lectured on the week before, needless to say, I wanted to shoot myself. Your entire grade is based on two quizzes (pretty much your midterm and final) that are 60pts. each, and one soil survey project worth 30 pts. For the first quiz, I highly suggest that you do the reading and follow along in class, although he tends to veer off topic quite a bit. He assigns a lot of reading, so just be sure not to get too behind, because it makes catching up difficult. For the first quiz, I would say that about half of the tested material came from the book, and the other half from his notes, he also goes over soil erosion equations the week before the first quiz, so study it well because it will most certainly be on the exam. The soil survey is an easy 30 pts., just try to start on it early because it does take some time, although I managed to do almost all of it the night before, and I got full credit. The second and final quiz is much easier than the first one, and is composed of short answer questions (no more than 1 or 2 sentences each). The tested material here came almost solely from his lecture notes, so study those. I pretty much failed the first quiz, did well on my project, and did fairly well on the final quiz and managed to get a B in the class.

107 is a class that is useful and practical, good for anyone who wants some understanding of what soils are and can be used for. Highly recommended for the generalist, and for anyone interested in agriculture.

Prof. Trimble is without question an expert in his field, with 30+ years of hands on experience to offer. His lectures can wander a bit, but he seems to know when this happens and surprises us with well played humor. He does follow the textbook reasonably well, and the lecture and book complement each other well.

He does go over map conversions and two erosion prediction equations in class, so pay attention to those and expect them on the test.