Funny guy! He makes plenty of jokes about himself, and provides amusing examples to demonstrate a concept. For example, he showed a clip of A Bug's Life to show how ants rely on pheromones to guide them back to their home. Midterms and the final were all on lecture material; it's completely possible to not buy the textbook and pass.

Matt seemed to understand the 117 kids were art students who wanted as little to do with science as possible. He tried to make it clear cut and as interesting as possible by bringing his personal research into lectures. When I needed help because I misunderstood or missed a lecture, he was totally there for me. Midterm and final were easy! Loved it

I adored this prof and I'm sad to not have his class anymore. He's funny, easy to understand, gives easy exams, and I felt confident going into all the exams. Didn't use the textbook much but other than that I can't find any fault in this class. He made bio engaging and interesting for art students and I loved his lectures and personal stories.

Good prof, but his lecture slides are useless. Tests were all multiple choice. I only did well in this class because I recorded and listened back to lectures. Him tests are based off of what is says out loud, not what his slides say.

Prof. Nelson was the best teacher I've ever had in my life. He made the course material genuinely fascinating through his constant humor, and supplied relevant, interesting anecdotes to aid in students' understanding. Lectures were easy to consume and captivating. Exams weren't too hard if you took notes and studied. I truly adored this class!

Nelson is a fantastic, passionate, and helpful teacher. He knows what he is talking about and has interesting lectures (if you're interested in what he is talking about). He is super understanding and wants students to succeed, if you try. Only issue is he is sort of unclear with what will be on exams and doesn't use the textbook.

I liked having Matt as a prof, however, his lectures were pretty jam packed. It's best that you don't skip because he does give important info in lecture and doesn't post his slides. Found the midterms review sheets helpful for guidance for studying, and as opposed to lots of these reviews, a lot of the content is in the textbook.

If you go to class and you write down what he says then you'll receive a good grade. He is very passionate about what he teaches but the exams are tough. JUST GO TO CLASS.

I like matt. I found the course content interesting and enjoyed lectures a lot. His lecture slides are very minimal so go to class to take notes on what he says. He will also test on things that he tells you to watch or listen to. I enjoyed this class a lot more than bio125. would recommend taking notes on a comp. He is passionate about the subject

Best prof ever and very funny!

Hard class but he makes the material super interesting. Seems like the class is going to be really hard at the start but you will come to become really interested. Dont miss class, as there isnt much for slides online.

This teacher isn't terrible at all. If you go to class, take notes, and do your Mastering Bio work you will be fine. Slides: the images were relevant and they had the main points you needed to know. He is clearly passionate about this subject and in reality it can be dry, he does what he can to make it entertaining and clearly cares about students.

Matt was a really good professor! His tests reflect exactly what was covered in lecture. Mastering biology and the textbook are not relevant to what was tested. As long as you show up and write down notes it's an easy course.

I have no idea why Matt has such a bad rating, he is probably one of the smartest professors I have had so far. When he lectures, it is evident he has a vast knowledge of what he is talking about. His tests are entirely based on the lectures, so don't even read the textbook. He also gives study sheets for the tests which is really helpful.

He genuinely cares about his students, whether he shows it or not. He also tries to make his lecture better every day with his sometimes irrelevant stories and jokes. If you attend all of his class and pay attention/take notes, you'll do great since his exams are reasonably based on his lectures. DONT STUDY FROM THE TEXTBOOK.

Actually made lectures interesting and made me wanna go to class to go to class. There is a lot of material to know but if you pay attention in class you can do well. Very passionate about spiders and texas.

Matthew is a great prof! People often complain that since the course is so lecture heavy if you skip class you're screwed but like if you know that... don't skip class??? He gives a study guide which is perfect and hits every point on it in his lecture. Write down what he says about the slides he shows, NOT the slides. USE THE STUDY GUIDE FOLKS!

Really cool prof who is passionate about what he teaches. Everything he says in class is on the exams. To do well, write notes on what he says and not so much the slides since they are short/dry. The study guide he gives is really helpful for studying for exams and all his exams including the final were multiple choice. Textbook wasn't used.

One of my favourite profs ive had! He knows so much about so much and this helps because hes very passionate about what hes talking about and will incorporate some stories so its not just an hour and half dry biology lecture. Write down everything he says and compare with a friend if u missed anything!! Midterm review sheets should be your bible!

Such a good class! The professor makes it super interesting. Take this class if you want to boost your GPA! If I needed to, I could miss class and it wasnt an issue!

Really opened my eyes to issues in sustainability. Classes were so much fun and his entertaining stories made them worthwhile. Really good GPA boosters as long as you don't plagiarize your paper. Also no final exam!!

Great prof that is passionate about what he teaches. Knows his stuff and keeps lectures entertaining and interesting. Taking sustainability with him was easy and the exams were also easy.

Dr. Nelson is a very easy grader as long as you show up to class and do the readings! His notes are definitely scattered but his talks are interesting

He is one of the most interesting professors I have ever had. If you do bad in your class its practically your own fault because he says all of the answers to all of the questions on his test in class, so take fast notes kid.

He can be kind of rude but overall this is an easy class. His slides are useless so attendance is mandatory and he goes over material extremely fast. He talks a lot about Texas and spiders so it makes it hard to follow sometimes. But over all he gives you all of the information that you need to know for exams.

Dr. Nelson is one of the funniest and most interesting profs out there. His lectures are super interesting and always enjoyable, unfortunately he goes through material very fast. You either have to be very fast at note taking or else record his lectures since the slides that he posts have almost no information on them.

Learnt half way through the semester the best way to deal with his 8am is to record the lectures and listen on double speed later to take notes. His slides are bare minimum of an outline for notes. His tests are his words from lecture. Do good in the lab its worth more than the final. Final wasn't worth much but easy and followed the study guide.

Dr. Nelson's lectures are easy to learn from but it's important that you really try to listen. His tests stick to his review guides almost perfectly so study off of that! There's lots of course material so it's vital that you study well in advance for his tests and when he tells you to memorize taxonomy (big part of tests), TRUST ME, JUST DO IT.

His lectures can be boring at times & his slides arent that helpful as they are like skeleton notes. He talks a lot & you need to write down everything he says because he only tests on content he talks about. That being said, he posts midterm and final exam reviews which are EXTREMELY helpful and if you study off of those you will get a good mark.

I have had him for a few bio classes now. You have to go to class and record his lectures to do well, but if you do that its easy to get a good grade. Tests are easy and his lectures are always engaging!

Yes his lectures have a lot of material and yes you must attend lecture to get the most of his notes but guess what?? that's university for you pal. Study guides reflect what will be on the exams so use them. He is excellent at explaining concepts and processes in detail without it being overwhelming. if you put in the effort you will do well.

He is a good professor. No, a lot of us including me did not get a good mark but that was because of the content. He is a good lecturer. If you take good notes and follow his syllabus, you will pass the class with a good grade. He is a hard test-maker though....

Nelson aka natureboy is honestly a good prof and a rad dude who just wants to hang out with spiders. He's funny and very compassionate and understanding. I can see why people don't like him as a prof tho, he is super lecture heavy and his slides are really just to remind him what points to talk about. Definitely a class you should record.

I honestly loved Dr. Nelson... he knows what he's talking about and definitely enjoys talking about it, however it is a butt load of information. Recording his lectures helps even though it takes hours to go through them, but it allows you to kinda relax during class and listen back on classes before exams (I did this when commuting before exams).

I would strongly recommend to AUDIO RECORD his lectures and make Quizlet's for each chapter. He posts his slides so DO NOT waste your time writing them down word for word. He tests off of what he says, so go to class! He is funny and sometimes may ramble so if you lose your attention, go back to your recordings. Not hard if you study right!

He's very considerate about students and his office hours are useful. You must show up and write what he says. His lecture slides are minimal so it's important that you stay awake and note what he is talking about. I also enjoyed his stories from Texas.

One of the best profs! Explains concepts clearly and tests are very fair. You can do well as long as you go to class

One of my favourite professors. He is the perfect example of that REAL university professor who does not just paraphrase the textbook when teaching. He's passionate. Textbook is just complementary to lecture content. His exams focus mostly on LECTURE material, so if you attend lectures, take good notes and study them well, you'll pass for sure!

He is super kind and is truly very passionate about bio! His tests however are fairly difficult. You just need to make sure you memorize your review sheet. He always encourages us to go to SL session, his office hours and use pearson to our advantage. Don't take this class if you aren't ready to give it your all :)

Nelson is a good lecturer. His anecdotes are interesting, but make it so that there is just a tonne of material to learn. As an online course, it wasn't too bad since you had the recorded lectures to go back to. Worked really hard for my A-; the tests aren't really 'hard' given his review sheets, but it's a lot of material to memorize

Definitely teaches a lot of material in lecture and his slides have no information on them so you really have to go to class. The online format was really nice because you could go back and rewatch. Tests are heavy on memorization (anything, literally anything he says can be on a test) but I enjoyed his stories about spiders and learned a lot.

(I took this course during the pandemic) Lectures were informative and easy to listen to. I found the exams quite difficult and felt unsure about the learning objectives + their relationship to the exam content. He is knowledgeable in the course content and able to provide assistance if you ask but some exam questions came out of left field.

I get such a kick out of this guy. I have had a couple classes with him thus far and plan on taking another. Nelson provides very detailed lectures and tests are very fair, no surprises. He is very passionate about what he teaches and is fun to talk to during office hours.

Class was very enjoyable! Nelson is hilarious imo and explains things well in class. If you don't listen to what he's saying, you'll miss important info though; his slides tend to lack definitions. I didn't find this to be an issue, just something to be aware of. I thought tests were fair, he tested on stuff we learned. Not much homework.

Matt Nelson is the best professor! His lectures are amazing and and he is really funny. He is very helpful outside of class, and I loved chatting with him about paper topics. I am very sad I will never have him again and if I could take him for another upper level ecology course, I would in a heartbeat!

The content of his classes are very heavy but as long as you study everything off his review sheet, you are bound to succeed. It requires a lot of effort and time but that is expected of a bio class lol. Everything I learn in his classes, I am able to retain which I cannot say about other profs. Great teacher :)

Pay attention and take good notes and you will do well. The questions on the reviews before midterms will save your grade. The lectures are interesting! Anything said in lecture is testable usually.

I love this man. Super interesting lectures, loves the topic, easy exams. He's an amazing prof

very. enthusiastic professor who's very knowledgeable in the subjects he teaches. genuinely enjoyed being in his class, the test are very easy, mostly multiple choice with one or two short answer. all of the things that he mentions in class will be testable so beware, but over a good class and an amazing prof.

Nature boy is by far the best biology professor I have ever had. His exams are mostly all multiple choice with quite literally a few (2) short answer and everything in the study guide questions were on the test. Such a nice guy and clearly loves what he's doing but beware that the majority of what he says is testable so pay attention in class

Nelson's invertebrate class is a huge improvement from first year. I didn't like 125 and was reluctant to take 205 with him. However, he quickly became one of my fav profs. He is very passionate about the content and I retain so much from his lectures. Yes, it's content heavy but it's a bio course, it's expected. I rlly suggest taking this class !

Nelson CLEARLY loves the content he's teaching and it makes it easy to pay attention when he's so enthusiastic. Content heavy class, but Nelson does a good job of making things interesting and easy to remember. Take good notes and go over the review questions before the exams and you'll do fine!

Funny prof and with entertaining lectures. 80% of his exams come from study guides he gives so do try answering them and 20% come from random things he says. Write down everything he says during lectures because his slides are useless. He records lectures which is really helpful at least.

Fascinating lectures, but you absolutely need to pay attention as very little is written down in his slides. Anything that shows up in lectures is fair game for tests. Tests are fair, and mainly multiple choice.

I don't understand why people dislike Dr. Nelson, I loved his class and will seek out his classes in the future. This course is very content heavy, so will challenge you. Dr Nelson truly knows what he's talking about with material and will take the time to explain it to you if you're struggling. He is very understanding of mental health challenges

reading before might have been a better idea, but during lectures a lot of details are said. overall great class and midterms and the final wasn't hard. the lab is rough but the lecture is great.

I LOVE nature boy's teaching style. It keeps you engaged and his stories make concepts easy to remember. The research paper plummeted my grade because I'd never written one before and there wasn't too much explanation for how to write one. As long as you study his study guides you can easily get 80%+ on midterms. Final was not cumulative yay!

The most important piece of advice I could give to someone who has not taken this class yet is GO TO THE LECTURES and write what he VERBALLY SAYS. The power points provided during lectures did not appear on any exams or midterms (but what he says will). Our class average was very low, and I suspect this is because very few would regularly show up.

Dr. Nelson is my favourite professor. He provides the information clearly, explicitly and structured. He talks fast so it can be tough to keep up but he records his lectures so you can rewatch them to catch up. He responds to emails fastand is happy to answer questions. His review sheets are exactly what is tested on. I highly recommend this course

Dr. Nelson is an incredible prof. My biggest piece of advice is to go to lectures. Not just because you should know the information he's talking about, but because he's funny and very approachable and wants you to learn. Gives out study guides and taxonomy sheets and if you know what's on those, you'll easily get a good grade. Definitely recommend.

I genuinely love Dr. Nelson's lecture style. You do have to listen closely for the material as slides cover almost nothing, but his exams are extremely fair. I feel like I had a better connection and understanding with the course material as I had to memorize it. His humour grew on me and I loved his little stories. Overall, I would take again!

Dr Nelson is quite funny, and he's obviously passionate about the content. To be honest, the content is quite heavy, and requires like 8+ hours per week(my personal experience), its interesting though. I know this is bad advice, but forget about lectures, watch lecture videos at your own pace, take lots of notes and you'll be fine. :)

BIOL125 demands a lot of memorization. The textbook isn't useful after week 1 or for tests/exams. Memorize lecture slides and write down everything he says during lectures with the corresponding slides. Tests are multiple-choice, focusing on definitions. The final is straightforward,covering post-Midterm 2 material with a bit of cumulative content.

ahhh Nature Boy, by far one of my favorite professors. Nelson is very engaging and a very entertaining professor. I'm in my last year and I have taken many courses solely with the reason that he is the professor. My biggest tip would be to write everything he says down, this is how I've studied for his classes and how Ive done well.

Great professor whose always willing to help out even sometimes outside of office hours to help students to understand concepts that they may be confused with.

Dr. Nelson is by far my favourite prof of all time. His lectures are hilarious and he is clearly so passionate about what he teaches. Taking BIOL 125 and 205 with him is definitely making me want to take future classes with him. If you listen to him during lecture and study what he says, you will succeed. Would 100% recommend this class!

I loved Dr Nelson! Had him for Bio 125 and 205 and really enjoyed his lectures in both. He only has two midterms and a final that make up your entire grade but the tests were pretty straightforward if you take good notes during lecture and study those the tests were only a few chapters at a time and all multiple choice. One of my favourite profs.

Matthew Nelson is a very thorough and passionate professor, and I loved Bio 125 with him. His teaching style is very active, although attendance isn't mandatory, you risk being severely behind if you dont attend. Classes are very interesting and informative, tests are covered fairly. It's a content-heavy course, and I recommend recording lectures.