Like another review said...I am also begging on my hands and knees if you are not interested in oceanography please do yourself a favor and choose a different GE! The labs were decently interesting; they reminded me of middle school science classes and I had a great TA. However, lectures were definitely a drag for me and I had a hard time focusing on the very dense and specific material that I was simply not interested in. I ended up having to pass/no pass this class, and I personally wish I chose a different GE that I was more interested in as this is one of my last GEs. If I were taking this for a letter grade, I would note that the EC is 10% for going to an aquarium/beach cleanup (very generous!)

tldr: not interesting for me/feels like an upper div. pretty difficult for a GE, but lab was pretty fun and the quizzes were not too hard. only take if you're passionate about oceanography!

Overall not bad, but as a business econ major, definitely too much science for me. Very focused on processes and systems of the ocean and earth, not so much about animals in the ocean itself. Was not difficult, but definitely takes some time to comprehend everything if you're not great at/into science. First midterm was a little difficult, mainly because I didn't know what it was really gonna be like and some of the questions were specific, but it was multiple choice. Class still not over, expecting extra credit (10%) to help get my grade up. Labs were also slightly difficult and took me some time to complete, but those are really only graded on completion and you work with a group for them.

I really liked Tina’s lectures! I’ve always been interested in ecology and evolutionary biology, so I found her content about the emergence of life on Earth (and potentially other satellites) to be really engaging and interesting. Tina’s also quite funny and puts a lot of memes on her slides (and generally makes them look cool), so I think most people would enjoy her lectures. The only con about Tina is that she doesn’t use Zoom, so you always had to go in person to sit in a class of 500 people wet coughing. I also mentioned this in my review of Jean-Luc, but the class should be easy as long as you pay attention during lecture, and the tests were also relatively easy and open-note. Some questions were a bit tricky but generally you could find the answers in the lecture notes, and if not, the textbook. I agree with some of the other reviews that sometimes the questions seemed to come out of nowhere or were worded weirdly, but most of the questions weren’t like this and usually you could make a solid guess based on process of elimination. Tina’s homework was manageable and pretty much was a copy of her slides. You also get unlimited time to think about the problems and can use your notes (and your lowest 2 homeworks get dropped!) Plenty of opportunities to do well in this class, plus I ended up loving what we learned in this class so I highly recommend it, especially if you’re down to completely upheave your perception of life and the universe.

Professor Treude was a great professor for CM114. Although I received a B, that was mostly due to senioritis and not her specifically. She is a great professor who is very passionate about the subject. Her tests were a bit difficult (some questions were extremely specific), but they were mostly fair. She is a very kind person, and she offered 10% EC which is graded on a pass/no pass basis. There is a midterm, final, and 4 homework sets, but the lowest homework grade is dropped. I would also recommend going to office hours, as some of the material can get tricky (especially the ANAMMOX stuff). Overall, I would recommend her class!

I was astounded when I read about her background; she is truly amazing. However, her lectures were a tad on the dull side. You could sense that she is really passionate about what she was teaching but it just wouldn't come across effectively. When she lectured EPSS 3, she made sure to put up her presentations in the class websites, which were very helpful if you can't make class for any reason.

I disagree with the reviews, this class is not easy, and Professor Treude does not make it any easier. She has a monotone voice and puts you to sleep. Going to class was pointless since all the the lectures were off a powerpoint that was just read and not explained. The midterm was a lot easier than the final but the only way to pass the class is studying and grasping the material on your own, otherwise you will be lost and confused.

Lecture may not be very engaging but the material is not difficult. We had a weekly homework assignment that was one page which was usually fill in the blank or answering easy questions (which you could usually answer by just going to lecture). The midterm was short and was straightforward.

Save yourself the trouble and do not take this professor for this class. She is the most half ass professor I've had at ucla. She gives zero fucks about you learning something. For example before the class even started during week 7 of winter quarter she sent a sheet that explained her "rules" regarding the class and one of them was "do not email me questions about the class material" and another was "if you cannot make my office hour too bad, go to the TA office hours." In addition to that her lectures are the most boring things ever and her tests are only worth very little points. The midterm was five questions and out of 25 points, if you make one simple mistake say goodbye to your A. Oh and she does not curve, its raw score. I don't know why she thinks she's better than every other professor I've ever had that she puts zero effort into teaching. Lastly the homework assignments are hell if you don't make use of Sidney who's the TA and the only bright side to this class. In general just avoid this class.

Save yourself the trouble and do not take this professor for this class. She is the most half ass professor I've had at ucla. She gives zero fucks about you learning something. For example before the class even started during week 7 of winter quarter she sent a sheet that explained her "rules" regarding the class and one of them was "do not email me questions about the class material" and another was "if you cannot make my office hour too bad, go to the TA office hours." In addition to that her lectures are the most boring things ever and her tests are only worth very little points. The midterm was five questions and out of 25 points, if you make one simple mistake say goodbye to your A. Oh and she does not curve, its raw score. I don't know why she thinks she's better than every other professor I've ever had that she puts zero effort into teaching. Lastly the homework assignments are hell if you don't make use of Sidney who's the TA and the only bright side to this class. In general just avoid this class.

I thought this class was by far one the most interesting class's I've taken at UCLA thus far. It is a lot of information that is being thrown at you. The homework assignments take 5 minutes to do if simply just pay attention in class (15 if you go through the slideshow. The exams aren't hard.