Jurassic World
Pleistocene Park, Jurassic World: Fossil Stories of Our Future What can coprolites tell us about climate change? Will mammoths roam Siberia once more? While paleontology might seem like it’s all about the past, the tools that paleontologists employ are directly relevant to our future. Students will explore scientific topics such as the process of fossilization, how to reconstruct the history of life, and why mass extinctions happen. We will also discuss the ethical dimensions of fossil ownership, de-extinction, science communication, and other societal issues. Ultimately, students will leverage the richness of geologic and evolutionary time to develop a new personal context for interpreting our rapidly changing planet. 3 hrs. lect
Pleistocene Park, Jurassic World: Fossil Stories of Our Future What can coprolites tell us about climate change? Will mammoths roam Siberia once more? While paleontology might seem like it’s all about the past, the tools that paleontologists employ are directly relevant to our future. Students will explore scientific topics such as the process of fossilization, how to reconstruct the history of life, and why mass extinctions happen. We will also discuss the ethical dimensions of fossil ownership, de-extinction, science communication, and other societal issues. Ultimately, students will leverag …Read more
Alexis is a tough grader and has high expectations. Don't take this class if you are looking for an easy blow off class. There are a ridiculous amount of policy briefs, papers, and other assignments that can take up a lot of time but are not necessarily too difficult, but she grades harshly. I didn't really enjoy my experience, I didn't like fossils enough. But if you are really into that, you would enjoy doing the work for it.
Alexis is a tough grader and has high expectations. Don't take this class if you are looking for an easy blow off class. There are a ridiculous amount of policy briefs, papers, and other assignments that can take up a lot of time but are not necessarily too difficult, but she grades harshly. I didn't really enjoy my experience, I did …Read more
ENVS 166 is a super fun, relaxed, quirky class. Assignments are mostly problem-sets based on scientific papers, along some short writing assignments. The projects for this class were extremely well-thought out and genuinely a joy to work on. Alexis is a very accommodating professor who cares about the well-being of her students, and is very flexible with deadlines. Lectures were not super necessary to the problem-sets or assignments but were nonetheless interesting to attend. The material itself is best described as "meta-paleontology" i.e. studying the *field* of paleontology. Do not expect a deep dive into the science of dinosaurs, as this class has a large emphasis on the humanities. It will, however, give you huge insight into the realities of the world of academia, more specifically, the world of paleontological research. How it's conducted, who benefits, who is excluded, and the limitations in the field.
ENVS 166 is a super fun, relaxed, quirky class. Assignments are mostly problem-sets based on scientific papers, along some short writing assignments. The projects for this class were extremely well-thought out and genuinely a joy to work on. Alexis is a very accommodating professor who cares about the well-being of her students, and …Read more
The class was really easy, no exams and you dont really have to pay attention. Alexis is really nice and passionate, but for this semester she gave a lot of work. We had to do 3 policy perspectives (4-5 pages single spaced each), long problem sets, weekly assignments, and final video project. A lot of the work was easy just really time consuming and many times really stupid and had no point - sometimes just busy work.
The class was really easy, no exams and you dont really have to pay attention. Alexis is really nice and passionate, but for this semester she gave a lot of work. We had to do 3 policy perspectives (4-5 pages single spaced each), long problem sets, weekly assignments, and final video project. A lot of the work was easy just really ti …Read more
This was an overall awesome course. The lectures were super engaging and Professor Alexis clearly put a lot of time and thought into the course design. All of the projects were super cool and the workload was generally very chill. I thought the material was super interesting and the grading is super easy. I definitely recommend the course.
Alexis is great! Very clear and also very understanding and flexible. The class is super interesting and she is super excited about the material. I liked that the made the material easy to understand for people with no background in STEM
This a gem. One of the easiest courses I've taken, and an easy way to get a science credit. Alexis is very nice and accommodating of students, and an Extremely easy grader. Easiest A you will ever get, and you get to learn about dinosaurs.