I took AOS 1 with Professor Seibt in Spring 2015. I have several opinions regarding the class structure and the professor.

First, the class material was relatively easily. We studied things like the greenhouse effect, carbon cycle, atmospheric and ocean circulation, ice ages, the IPCC, and other typical environmental topics. I enjoyed the material but I have heard other students say that it was tedious and at times difficult to comprehend (such as the Coriolis effect). The only thing I really despised was that the material was never really set. The professor gave us a tentative syllabus at the beginning and we did not discuss half the topics listed on it.

Second, grading is pretty fair and yet confusing simultaneously. The structure was 30% midterm, 45% final, 25% homework. We used the infamous and costly iClicker 2. The iClicker questions are graded 50/50. 50% comes from answering 75% of the questions in class, whether you answer correctly or incorrectly. The other 50% of the clicker points comes from answering "quiz" questions. She said that iClicker could replace half of the midterm score, and I assumed she did so. However, there is no set grading scale so I do not know if the class was curved or not. I believe it was considering the averages on the exams, though.

Side note...
Averages for exams:
Midterm 83%
Final 62% (I have no idea why this was so low considering she gave us two days of review...)

Third, I think the biggest thing I realized disliked about Professor Seibt was how disorganized she was. The syllabus was not really clear in grading nor content and I feel like the homework assignments were drawn up last minute.

Also, I took the lab, and some of the assignments were just plain silly. The last lab was to write a review of the class. The labs were not hard, but just seemed like mundane assignments that didn't really teach me much. Another lab had us "google" what soil erosion was and write a half-page summary. I honestly wish the labs were thought of much better.

Overall, the class was not too hard. The professor is extremely friendly and approachable in office hours, but she is extremely disorganized. Professor Seibt will also try to make class fun and engage students which makes class better.

Final Grade: B+
Lab Grade: A

I felt this class lacked structure and organization. The lectures were also very boring and she did not make her points clear; it was difficult to follow her throughout the slides. Your discussion and its helpfulness depends widely on your TA; mine unfortunately was also not a great teacher and I had to seek extra help and tutoring from another TA to finally feel like I was understanding the material. My original TA was so ineffective that I ultimately stopped showing up to discussion after week 4 (your attendance does not count towards your grade and is only useful for forming your initial homework groups). The homework assignments we did get were not helpful in reinforcing what we were learning in the class. I would not take another class with this professor.

Professor Seibt was honestly a really funny professor and she must produce some amazing research because she really does not know how to run a class. During the first day of lecture she literally had nothing planned and was curious of the things we wanted to learn that quarter. I never even had a high school teacher that asked such questions. As much as she was funny, the class was very disorganized and the TA's reflected her disorganization. Luckily, the class was pretty easy and she gave us up to 5% extra credit, but the grading made absolutely no sense. Neither Professor Seibt or the TA's had a clear sense of what they wanted to see on the midterm or final. However, I would recommend this class for those who want to take a family easy GE while having a good laugh in lecture just due to her German bluntness with people.

I took this course spring quarter of 2020 online. Although I ended up with an A, I felt confused through the majority of the course. Professor Ulrike is clearly knowledgable on the content but I do feel like she has trouble explaining it in an easy way. I am not a science major so most of the material was new and confusing. Due to the online format, there were no midterms or finals which honestly saved my grade. The homeworks are pretty easy to get an A on and my TA was very helpful. I recommend taking the lab since the questions were very easy and short. If you are not a science major like me, make sure to go to discussion because they were more helpful than lecture to me!

This class is very easy and Dr. Seibt is super extremely kind and funny. I miss this class the most:( This class was so nice and very easy... The TA's were also extremely nice and hard working... Everyone was so nice... I really miss class and highly recommend this class to anyone who is looking for an easy GE :(

I took this course during the COVID-19 panini, and honestly I think it was great for a four-unit GE.

Lectures were recorded online and viewable asynchronously, slides were posted and clear to use, and attendance wasn't mandatory, so I actually didn't attend very many lectures. Considering the relative ease of the exams (as a STEM major), and the amount of quiz make-up opportunities available, I would strongly recommend anyone to take AOS 1, whether that's as a GE, a GPA boost, or just as a glimpse into the environmental science world.

Professor Seibt is, especially at 2x speed, very easy to listen to and understand. I think her classes — and the last homework, an at-home demonstration of thermohaline circulation — were really fun, and a good way of making the topic truly unforgettable.