Professor Schimel is a caring professor who is very passionate about the ecosystem. However, his class is pretty dry and I found it really boring. Idk why the reviews on here say he's mean because I found him pretty nice and he genuinely cares about his students doing well. Just really pay attention because his exams are hard

He seems like a nice guy/clearly is passionate about his work, but if you don't understand something he's super condescending and borderline rude. He also kept hosting class/section when the TAs were on strike & that honestly made me lose respect for him. If you're interested in soil science you'll have a good time but otherwise don't recommend

GREAT GUY. professor schimel is a wonderful, caring professor who loves his students. however- problem sets are very difficult unless they are explained by the TA. weekly quizzes have some vague, unclear questions. get ready to do your own research to understand what he teaches in class if you are unfamiliar with these concepts. must be smart.

I loved Josh! Not very interesting material, but he's so enthusiastic so it makes it better. Go to class and pay attention; if you understand the concepts you'll do well on the tests without doing readings. I would definitely recommend taking any class with Josh. This class would have been very dry with any other professor

Schimel is an intelligent, experienced person but that can make lecture material difficult to understand. Not that accessible outside class bc he's a busy busy man. Lectures are casual and helpful to understand what's on the tests. Paper 3 page, any topic, tests are straightforward, class is about microbial roles in agriculture and antibiotics

He is a super pretentious professor, and very rude and demanding. Would not recommend any class by him. Definitely acts like he is too smart to hear you out on anything, and speaks down to students looking for help. 110 do not recoment

One of the best professors I've had at UCSB. Incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about what he is teaching. Focused on knowing broad conceptsthemesprocesses rather than memorization. I left this class a more observant and thoughtful person in regards to understanding nature's processes. Very kind and fair professor. Easy A too!

He loves the Arctic and has a fantastic mustache. Really nice guy. Had to go away during the quarter for a few days and said you could skype him if you needed help on the problem set. Very involved researcher w interesting experience and insight.

Interesting class, and I thought he's a pretty good teacher. The tests are a little hard, you have to be able to apply what he teaches in lecture, but they're only 35% of your total grade, and you can get most or all of the points on the homework and problem sets as long as you put the time in.

Easy, straight-forward material, but an overall hard class to do well in. The problem sets were really hard and did not relate to the topics he covered in class. Nice guy, but the assignments/midterm/final were pretty awful.

The midterm and final were fairly difficult. you have to apply concepts he doesn't explain well to abstract and unclear problems. also kinda boring.