Niwaeli Kimambo

Spatial Analysis with Professor Kimambo was not as bad as some of these reviews would have you think, but it really depends on the individual. There is definitely a learning curve if GIS is new to you. Professor Kimambo cares a lot and wants to see you succeed; just make sure you follow her directions explicitly.

The class itself felt scattered and confused. Though the professor has a lot of appreciation for the material, it did not feel as though she was the best at teaching it. The workload of the class feels relatively unreasonable as there are ~3-5 hour long concept videos required before lecture each week that are the primary learning source for concepts while lectures function almost as unfocused reviews of the material. It often felt as though lectures are redundant or outright unhelpful in learning and applying the concepts of the class. Labs were the core of the class and were quite enjoyable, but I felt that the overall structure of the class could have better supported lab efforts rather than excess tutorial/lecture time where we cannot get our hands on the materials themselves. As the class is required for ENVS majors (and was full of them when I took the course), it was confusing that the bulk of the class was not built on interpreting or understanding maps and their implications for environmental purposes, but rather just learning how the mapmaking software works. Additionally, the professor was unclear in expectations for graded assignments and often provided contradicting or entirely too vague instructions or feedback for her particularly harsh grading. I would avoid this class and professor if possible.

The class itself felt scattered and confused. Though the professor has a lot of appreciation for the material, it did not feel as though she was the best at teaching it. The workload of the class feels relatively unreasonable as there are ~3-5 hour long concept videos required before lecture each week that are the primary learning so …Read more

Course is front loaded with multiple hours worth of videos and guided notes per week. Grades mostly consisted of projects with one midterm. Maps were tedious and time consuming and project directions were a little vague. Participating in office hours for clarity is very helpful as were the TAs.