Environmental Geology

This was a great class to be introduced to the Earth & Climate Sciences department. Jeff was a really effective professor, and his enthusiasm for all things geology definitely came across in his teaching-style. There is no homework besides labs once a week, but the labs are pretty easy. There is also no textbook, which can make it pretty difficult at times to study for the exams, especially if you miss a lecture as he doesn't upload his slides. He is a pretty tough grader and I sometimes felt that he took points off answers in an unfair way. That said, this was a super valuable course and I would definitely take a class with Jeff again!

This was a great class to be introduced to the Earth & Climate Sciences department. Jeff was a really effective professor, and his enthusiasm for all things geology definitely came across in his teaching-style. There is no homework besides labs once a week, but the labs are pretty easy. There is also no textbook, which can make it pr …Read more

Jeff is a great instructor and I have no complaints about his teaching style - the enthusiasm is there and he keeps even the 8:40 lecture entertaining. My difficulty with this class is that we had ZERO readings, textbook, linked materials etc. to study from, so if you miss a lecture it will severely impact your performance on exams even if you get notes from a classmate. Grading feels objectively pretty fair, but sometimes I feel we are asked questions we couldn't have known the answer to; this is why I put tough grading. Labs are great field trip opportunities and you will never get bored.

Jeff is a great instructor and I have no complaints about his teaching style - the enthusiasm is there and he keeps even the 8:40 lecture entertaining. My difficulty with this class is that we had ZERO readings, textbook, linked materials etc. to study from, so if you miss a lecture it will severely impact your performance on exams e …Read more

Environmental Geology with Will Amidon has been one of my favorite classes so far at Midd. Very passionate professor, although a bit scatter-minded. Labs were a highlight of the semester, where we would go on field trips. Exam instructions were clear and as long as you did the in-class activities, were not bad at all.

I truly enjoyed this class. Definitely my favorite class I've taken here at Middlebury, the labs were joyous and we would romp around in the woods looking for the end of a stream, climbing waterfalls to see sediment layers and measure river velocity. Highly recommend.

I found the lectures pretty engaging since he made it a bit more conversation based and interactive. All the worksheets made it feel like the class would be graded more easily then it ended up being. For example the lab reports were always just sheets, but were graded slightly more harsh.

I really loved the labs of this course, which were often outside and were super interesting. The way the course was set up was also pretty useful, covering material outside of class and then working on activities in class. Its a great intro class, and I would recommend.

Will is a great professor (although he can be a little bit scattered at times). I really enjoyed the labs for this class, you get to go outside a lot. The lectures were helpful and there wasn't a ton of work outside of class. Overall I found the class to be really interesting and helpful for the ECSC major.

This is a fantastic course that anyone remotely interested in earth science should take. Will is an amazing prof. who genuinely cares about the material and his students. Most of the homework is taking notes on video lectures with some lab reports thrown in weekly. Great class.

This class is a great introductory class to geology. It covers a lot of material but always spends just enough time on each topic. Will is an amazing teacher with lots of enthusiasm for the subject. I took this class in the Spring which meant that most labs were outdoors for the latter half of the course.

So far my favorite class I have taken at Middlebury. Will assigned just enough work that you become an expert on the subject, but not enough to make you lose your curiosity and enthusiasm. The freedom on the final poster/essay project allowed me to explore something I was really passionate about so I didn't even feel like work. I recommend this class for ECSC and non-ECSC majors alike.

So far my favorite class I have taken at Middlebury. Will assigned just enough work that you become an expert on the subject, but not enough to make you lose your curiosity and enthusiasm. The freedom on the final poster/essay project allowed me to explore something I was really passionate about so I didn't even feel like work. I rec …Read more

Great class, would definitely recommend if you are interested in earth science. It gave a nice background of a broad range of earth science topics that helped me develop a strong base of knowledge. Will is super friendly, he does a great job making class interesting and fun while explaining harder topics. The flipped classroom model is great, you spend most of the time doing group work. Labs were fun as well, cool to get out in the area.

Great class, would definitely recommend if you are interested in earth science. It gave a nice background of a broad range of earth science topics that helped me develop a strong base of knowledge. Will is super friendly, he does a great job making class interesting and fun while explaining harder topics. The flipped classroom model …Read more

This is a flipped model class where we watch lectures and upload notes as homework and do small group activities in class. All videos can be found under the channel Middlebury Environmental Geology. There were two closed-book exams but all questions are drawn from in-class activities. The labs are mainly field trips with brief write-ups afterward. Will is an awesome instructor who is passionate about course material and explains complex concepts clearly.

This is a flipped model class where we watch lectures and upload notes as homework and do small group activities in class. All videos can be found under the channel Middlebury Environmental Geology. There were two closed-book exams but all questions are drawn from in-class activities. The labs are mainly field trips with brief write- …Read more

Course consists of 2 midterms and a final project. Midterm questions come from in class activities and the final project is a poster/paper about any topic. Will is super chill and the only real homework is a lab report that is just a couple page worksheet. Labs are super fun so long as the weather is nice.

Most of the problems I had with the class were just because of the flipped classroom- it was easy to get behind which made the labs pretty challenging- if you want to take this, you need a fair amount of enthusiasm for geology. If you have that you'll love this class tho!

Engaging lectures and minimal workload have me excited to go to classes. Difficult grading in exams is negated by take-home exams, lots of fun labs. Overall great real-world experience that can be applied to daily life, and in interesting ways.

I had a great time in this class! Even though we only met twice a week, the class atmosphere was very fun and relaxed, and my classmates felt like friends. We laughed a lot. The course material was pretty easy and covered a lot of ground without going very deeply into any one subject (but that was to be expected, as it is a 100 level class). Overall, absolutely a positive experience, and I definitely want to be an ECSC major now!

I had a great time in this class! Even though we only met twice a week, the class atmosphere was very fun and relaxed, and my classmates felt like friends. We laughed a lot. The course material was pretty easy and covered a lot of ground without going very deeply into any one subject (but that was to be expected, as it is a 100 level …Read more

Will is very chill and nice as a professor. Classroom is flipped to be prepared to take notes on videos outside of class, and do groupwork in class. labs are so fun, mostly field trips to look at rocks and soil n stuff. very fun easy intro class

Most homework was watching videos. These came in place of lectures, so instead of lectures during class time, we did group activities. I really liked this and found it to be beneficial, however it does mean that you need to focus when watching video lectures outside of class. The labs are mostly outdoors and so cool. Really recommend this course.

Will was extremely engaged with all his students and invested in helping us understand the course material. The flipped classroom style meant that we did a lot of group worksheets in class based on the lectures we'd watched the night before. The exams typically pulled directly from the in class worksheets or the labs.

Will is an awesome professor. A little all over the place at times but he’s super into what he does and is very passionate about the class. Flipped classroom format, so generally need to spend about an hour watching lecture videos before class. Class time he lectures a little, answers questions, and you work on worksheets. The labs are all just field trips. Lab reports can be a little tedious but overall pretty fun. Exams cover a lot and can be challenging but he tells you exactly what to study. If you put a little time in to study it’s a pretty easy A, but if you get behind it can get tough quickly. Highly recommend the class and Will as a prof.

Will is an awesome professor. A little all over the place at times but he’s super into what he does and is very passionate about the class. Flipped classroom format, so generally need to spend about an hour watching lecture videos before class. Class time he lectures a little, answers questions, and you work on worksheets. The la …Read more

Will is an amazing teacher and I recommend taking a class with him if possible. Sometimes he says that we is disorganized but I think that he is too harsh on himself. The classes are a flipped model so we watch videos outside of class and do activities in class. Great class highly recommend.

Covered a wide array of topics relating to geology. An interesting class and Will is super enthusiastic about the subject. The field trip labs were fun and not too much work. Overall a very positive experience.

I would highly recommend this class to anyone even if you don't intent to major in ECSC. Jeff Munroe is amazing - he is very knowledgeable and passionate about earth science which makes lectures fun and easy to listen to. He makes an effort to get to know every student even in large groups and is always in a positive mood and joking around. The course was not difficult, there are no exams (only weekly lab assignments, and the midterm and final are projects), but you do need to pay attention during lectures to understand concepts and put good effort into labs.

I would highly recommend this class to anyone even if you don't intent to major in ECSC. Jeff Munroe is amazing - he is very knowledgeable and passionate about earth science which makes lectures fun and easy to listen to. He makes an effort to get to know every student even in large groups and is always in a positive mood and joking …Read more

This class is a really good intro to earth science and the labs make it fun as well. Will is a great teacher and is accommodating and helpful. The tests are all directly based on in class activities which make the pretty easy, there are also only two for the semester in addition to a final project

This class is packed with a ton of really cool material. It is nowhere near my major, but I nonetheless found this information interesting and I am very glad I have learned it. Professor Amidon is very very nice and he knows his stuff. He definitely feels like a teacher who is on your side the entire time.

This class is what solidified my decision to major in ECSC. Will is an incredibly fun professor, and his laid-back attitude helped create a positive learning environment. We watched videos as homework that was relevant to group work in class the next day, which I much prefer. There are two exams, as well as a final poster project. A couple of the labs were more difficult for me, and I often went to TA hours. However, it is definitely possible to succeed if you work hard to understand the material. I would highly recommend this class to everyone, even if you do not plan to major in ECSC.

This class is what solidified my decision to major in ECSC. Will is an incredibly fun professor, and his laid-back attitude helped create a positive learning environment. We watched videos as homework that was relevant to group work in class the next day, which I much prefer. There are two exams, as well as a final poster project. A …Read more

This course was easy and enjoyable. Both labs and lectures were interesting and engaging and I almost never had homework outside of class. Lab assignments were clear and not too difficult and all our field labs sere super fun (except for the wastewater plant.)

Weekly schedule consisted of watching videos (around 20-30min) before each class and then working on applying the material to group work in class. Will amidon is great, super funny guy who is very fair in grading and engaging with his teaching style. You will get someone random life updates from him with no context and it will make your day.

I loved Jeff and his class! He is super enthusiastic about earth and climate sciences. The work and grades in his class are mainly focused on the labs. Everyone had to complete one big presentation and a midterm project, along with a final project. The work is super manageable and his grading is also very fair. I recommend!

Professor Munroe is awesome, he's super enthusiastic about all of the material that he's teaching. It's a pretty easy course, but some of the weekly labs take some time to get done, but with really no reading or other work beyond that, it's very much manageable. Even if you're not super interested in geology, I still definitely recommend this class.

This course was so much fun. Will is such a great professor and is super nice and funny. He is really passionate about geology and his enthusiasm was contagious. The labs in this class are fantastic; most of them are outdoors and are a lot of fun. I would 100% recommend taking this course or any class that Will teaches.

Took this course with Prof. Amidon. He is super enthusiastic. I loved the labs and the flip classroom teaching style. I managed to learn a ton without spending too much time stressing over the class. Phenomenal course overall I highly recommend it.

I highly recommend this class to anyone who is interested in Geology. Will is super nice, funny, and puts in the effort to get to know the students in the class. All of the labs and lectures were super interesting and very clear.

Jeff is a really organized teacher has lots of enthusiasm for the material and is very approachable. His grading on Lab Reports can be harsh but never too detrimental. Midterm and Final exams are interesting projects!

Will is an amazing professor. This class is taught in a flipped-classroom style. As long as you watch the videos before you come to class, you will do fine. I loved this class and would recommend it for anyone!

Will is an amazing professor who is super passionate about the material. The class is flipped, so you watch the lectures and take notes before the class. The labs are mostly outdoors and are a lot of fun. Highly recommend this course.

I enjoyed this course and I loved the field trips. I think that the content in this course is covered in most other Earth and Climate Science Courses I have taken but it was an easy and fun course to take and contributed to my decision to major in Earth and Climate Sciences