Alexis Mychajliw

When I took Conservation Biology, I did not realize how much the course had been hyped up in the conbio department. I am a bio major who took the course out of interest, not as a major requirement. I loved this course; I did not really love the students in it. A lot of students seemed to be competing for Alexis's approval, and to me it was extremely cringey. Additionally, I felt like my peers were often competitive with one another about who was more stressed about the class. Given that, this course is nothing to stress about. Papers are graded for completion. A lot of this course was devoted to finding jobs and figuring out what working in conservation really looks like, which was extremely helpful. Alexis sets you up for success and cares about your future, which is a trait my Midd professors often lack. This class does have a lot of work, writing, and reading, but it is very manageable and will give you the skills you need to navigate published papers easily and quickly. If you are interested in conservation as a career path, 100% take this class and do not let anyone scare you away from it.

When I took Conservation Biology, I did not realize how much the course had been hyped up in the conbio department. I am a bio major who took the course out of interest, not as a major requirement. I loved this course; I did not really love the students in it. A lot of students seemed to be competing for Alexis's approval, and to me …Read more

I found this course both strange and fascinating, its focus an unconventional combination of distant times, and especially disasters of the distant past, and of horror literature—which was presented as an exploration of concepts which are challenging or even impossible to contemplate directly. Assignments tend to range between scientific exploration/writing with creative elements to creative projects with scientific elements; there was relatively little emphasis on standard essay writing. Though I would not have previously described myself as a fan of either horror or morbid events of the distant past, I have ended up enjoying this course greatly, and I would strongly recommend it for any who enjoy some amount of both science and creativity. Or any who would like to see how the bizarre and unexpected still lie below the surface of even the most mundane-seeming things.

I found this course both strange and fascinating, its focus an unconventional combination of distant times, and especially disasters of the distant past, and of horror literature—which was presented as an exploration of concepts which are challenging or even impossible to contemplate directly. Assignments tend to range between scient …Read more

This course was not on a topic I would have ever chosen, but it was interesting nonetheless. We read and thought about worlds before and after humans and how to grapple with these realities. I ran things to say but I need the character count :)