well prepared, interesting material, open to answering questions, a very enjoyable experience.

Going to lecture not required - just have to know his printable lecture handouts well. His test is very straight forward and pretty easy if you try. He is a nice and enthusiastic guy! Makes plants interesting!

awesome guy. awesome class. take it take it take it!

Terribly interesting material taught by first hand experience. Take this prof! Very fair, and straightforward, although his writing is terrible. Go to his office hours just once, and youll find yourself sticking around just to hear him tell his stories!

Enthusiastic about the material. Memorize lecture slides, don't bother with the reading. Material was straightforward but midterm was tricky, so watch out for that.

He's enthusiastic about the subject and his tests are based off his lecture slides exactly. However his lectures are SOOOOOOOOOOO boring cuz he reads his slides off word for word.

I thought Prof. Carlson was a great lecturer and you can tell he loves what he does. Lecture slides will give you all the info you need for the tests but I recommend going to the lectures because he emphasizes what you need to know for his tests. I would definitely like to take another class of his.

He is an awesome prof!

His love for this material is contagious. Go to the review session and the tests will go very smoothly. Great guy with incredibly interesting stories.

Medical Ethnobotany was the most useful class I've taken in the three years I've been at Cal. It tells you what plant is good for curing/preventing what and how.

What a great class!

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plant bio is incredibly boring, but the prof makes it as interesting as it could possibly be. he LOVES plants...its really great. A LOT of memorization but exams q's are directly off his slides so no surprises. really cool guy with fascinating stories about his experiences in various countries

Easy and fun class! He has passion for what he does and great stories too!

Tells you exactly what you need to know for the midterm. Incorporates interesting stories into teaching material. He gets very excited about plants.

A cool guy who's travelled the world over. VERY into plants and telling stories. Covers interesting material, gives you all his slides, and goes over exactly what's on the tests. Take this class.

He's easy and the tests are fair, but I agree, it was seriously a waste of time for him to blatantly read off the lecture notes, which he does provide you with.

Nice guy, easy exams, but he reads straight from the lecture slides so no point in going or reading the book. Emphasizes slides to know during review session. His lectures are very boring, but exams are still fair.

He is a great professor. Very nice and friendly. Teaches interesting material and really cares about what he's teaching about. Exams are fair, not hard. Probably the nicest male Professor on the campus too!!!

he made me very interested in plants even when i thought i couldn't be. adds interesting insights/additional info. nice guy makes sure we all know what will and what won't be on the test.

Extremely clear, organized lectures and notes, fair exams. You can tell he is interested in the material and knows his stuff. Lectures can be a little boring since he reads off the slides, but it's worth it to go since he points out details that are important to remember for the exam. Go to the review lecture before the midterm, it helps a lot.

Carlson is very lively, and loves to teach medical ethnobotany. The midterm is really easy so don't be misled.. the final is MUCH harder. In any event you learn a lot of practical information as well as get a chance to earn high scores if you study real hard:)

Really great lecturer and guy in general.Enthusiastic and interesting lectures.Reader can be better organized but the material is pretty clear.Final was harder than I thought; not sure if he graded on a curve because I thought i did badly but still got an A in the class.Highly recommended.

Highly recommended class. class is 2 units, and meet once every week. Lecture is clear and 2 exams are all MCs. I never studyed the materials except b4 exam, and I got A. Try to memorize everything he mentioned in the review, and go over several times b4 exams to keep the memory as precise as possible. Make a list yourself is very very helpful!

Great, enthusiastic professor who had many interesting pictures to complement the lectures. Test questions were clear, fair, and representative of lecture material.

Fun and interesting lectures.

Enthusiastic, well versed, very approachable professor. Class is one of the most enjoyable I've had. Pretty easy, but you have to memorize a lot especially if you are in lab! I took it during the summer, much less time consuming. Must have class for Pre-meds. Final is way harder than midterm so study up!

Bio 1B is the easiest class in Berkeley. Carlson is a really good professor. He really knows his stuff. His midterms are incredibly easy...I never studied for his midterm and still got 100%. GREAT PROFESSOR.

Bio 1B was awesome with Prof. Carlson. He brings really interesting stories to class (when he's on one of his tangents). You'll get to learn about how the female wasp enjoys having sex with the male wasp inside a fig since the males cannot escape from the fig. The midterm was easy. He's very helpful during office hours.

AWESOME CLASS!!! he's a really nice guy and very approachable. The material was interesting and easy. he's organized, well prepared, funny, and is totally fair on the exams. You'll learn a lot from him! 'I've had Carlson for BIO IB and BIO 117. I got an A both times. He is so awesome. highly recommended. his class/section is a total gpa booster.

very enthusiastic about material, learned alot from him, friendly, approachable, i highly recomend taking classes with Dr. Carlson, probably one of the best professors i have had at Cal

Carlson was really awesome. He's midterm was very easy and straightfoward!

u wont go wrong with this guy...prlly the easiest prof ever...

Dr. Carlson is arguably one of the clearest and easiest professors at Cal. He is an exciting and hillarious instructor, which is quite helpful considering that the class is at 8 am. However, he focuses too much on memorizations, which can be either good or bad.

The exams were so easy it was unbelievable. It's just memorization of his lectures. His lectures were ppt and long. But he was entertaining (he says 'hyphy' for 'hyphae'). He tried to include a lot of interesting outside info, especially for the fungi section.

tells you everything you need to know for midterms. straight memorizing. funny guy and incredibly enthusiastic about plants

Cool guy. He tells interesting facts that correlate to the lecture. A very fun class. His midterm is straightforward. Very easy. Very approachable in office hours. You'll start to take extra notice of plants.

Tests only on a reader full of power point slides. Clear about what he's testing on, just a lot of memorization on the plants, their uses, and how they work. Very interesting. Lots of pictures of where he's traveled to around the world. Interesting guy, great class.

Interesting guy, pretty straightforward. the midterm was easy. all the information is in his slides. very reasonable and understanding of students needs.

3 days of work=solid A. this is all that needs to be said

I took Bio 1B with Carlson and IB 140 (Human Reproduction) were very similiar. Tests were solely based on the copious amount of information on the powerpoint slides. Thus if you study, you do well. Lecture material is interesting but I would agree that Carlson answers too many unrelated questions. However, class was interesting and I enjoyed it.

Carlson is a very fun guy. He knows a ton of stuff and will often tell stories in class. The class is easy; just spend a few days memorizing everything in the reader. Don't let yourself wait until the night before. The tests are not designed to trick you or anything. Also, his lectures have a lot of pictures, which are fun to look at.

Very interested in his material, very excited about his subject. Very clear agenda about what material is covered on his MT's and Finals.

If there's one prof on earth who can make everything fun, Carlson's the one. You learn more than in the other classes, and Carlson has a way of making the subject material engaging. Personally, he is a very nice guy that you would like to have office hours with.

Very nice person, a real teacher! The test is not that easy because there is a lot of material to memorize, but at least he is not going to trick you like many other teachers. He actually tests you on what you know. Very interesting loved his pictures on the slides!

Admitted he's sort of a "rarity" now, with his MD/MS. Awesome professor, clear, concise lectures. True to his word when he says all his midterm questions come from his lecture slides. Lots of material, but not too difficult if you pay attention to him and lab GSI. Would consider another class with him.

great teacher

Went to class on the first day and then watched the webcast for the rest of his term. not that interesting to listen to, but his slides are clear; i suggest making flashcards. his test is literally straight from his lecture notes, so if all else fails, memorize. pretty easy overall.

He has a reputation of being very easy. However, he's not THAT easy. Some of his test questions are very small-detail based, things you would NEVER have thought to study for. It's like "why did he put THAT on the test?" I think he's a great guy, very smart, but he's not as easy as ppl say. I have all As in science classes, and his I worked for his!

seriously, just study his slides. he's true to his word and everything on the test has been presented on a slide. make flashcards and memorize it all because he does ask very detailed questions. it only takes about a day. plus, i just had to webcast. don't need to do the reading. his labs consist of filling out packets of questions, boring.

Lectures are far more interesting when he goes off on tangents. Otherwise, he just reads word-for-word off his slides. Exams are okay if you don't mind memorizing minutiae.

its rare to find a professor who is willing to answer every hand raised in a huge lecture hall like 2050 AND is approachable in office hours. to me, that is a rare and valuable find at ucb, where i have encountered plenty of professors who are too pretentious to care.

Good teacher. Useful class overall with a lot of interesting tangents. Def. not an easy A... you have to earn that A by memorizing his reader full of slides. Took me around 5/6 hours + an all-nighter. Once you've got it down, tests are easy- no tricks. The one rating with vacation/colonialism comment is total bs. He clearly doesn't know the teacher

The most awesome professor, so smart so enthusiastic that it makes you want to learn for fun. Very helpful and down to earth man, the zen is with this guy. Just study his lecture slides and ask him questions and you will be fine.

This guy is awesome. Don't have to go to class, but it's worth seeing him make corny jokes, but they're funny. He's enthusiastic about his work, that's for sure. Just memorize his slides and ace the test not hard at all, just takes time.

Very enlightening and interesting class!!! while attendance is not mandatory, it is helpful...a cup of coffee, a dark chocolate bar, and two good nights of studying are all you need to ace the class...i'm not kidding about the dark chocolate...don't eat it and see what happens!!!!

Professor Carlson’s lectures are based on his assigned reading, so if you need a review or just some clarification lecture is invaluable. ZM PC S2K8

Professor Carlson was a fairly interesting lecturer. Exams were fair (memorization-based).

Interesting class. I learned a lot and his lecturers were usually pretty interesting. He cares about students and wants you to like the subject. The textbook is not necessary but is pretty helpful and not too hard to understand.

Great professor--energetic, organized, and fair. Also, cutest personality ever.

The most straightforward professor in Berkeley. Enjoyed his presentation style, he does it in such a way for us to read his slides while hearing him repeat it at the same time, which targets are memorization process! Take this class and you'll learn stuff you didn't in high school ;-) It's so funny how he uses different works for sex!

best prof out of the bio1b lecturers BY FAR. straightforward, funny, enthusiastic, and FAIR! his slides are crystal clear so just study those thoroughly and you will be fine. Amazing! :)

What an awesome professor! Really interesting & so approachable! Had a convo with him before lecture while standing in line to get coffee about how we needed coffee b/c it was so early. Cool guy. Tests are very memorization based so start studying early. I learned a lot & want to take another class from him.

He is a very straight forward professor. All questions are clear and straight forward on his exams. Just know all the slides inside and out. He is very enthusiastic about the subject!

Test questions were taken directly from material on slides. Very straight-forward. The book can help clarify concepts, but isn't necessary to read.

Carlson is pretty boring buy but he is really interested in the world of plants. He has traveled to like every place in the world. His exam is based on pure memorization so study and remember all his little facts from beginning to end. His questions were more straightfoward than the rest.

I absolutely love this guy and have so much respect for him. He is extremely intelligent and has a lot of experience with science outside of class. A good guy and very reasonable on tests. He would make a great uncle.

What a great guy. Fair on tests and straight-forward. He made learning enjoyable because I wasn't caught up on worrying what will be on the tests, he will let you know. He is so intelligent and experienced, as well as adorable and a sweetheart!

Professor Carlson is very detailed in his lectures. His tests are fair, and he even posts up review sheets. However, there is a massive amount of information required to know for the final, so don't slack off studying for it or else your grade will definitely suffer.

Very clear about what is on the exam, so you can focus on learning the material, not just preparing to regurgitate it on the test. He is very excited about plants, especially ones with medical ethnobotanical properties. There is a lot of material to know for the test, but the test is not tricky. He has a wonderful personality and is a great teacher

I didn't realize how easy dr. carlson's section was compared to the others, until it was over! All you need to do to well is memorize all the details on his slides and you can easily Ace the test! He seems to be very enthusiastic and interested in teh subject matter. Nice guy, easy class.

Lectures and webcasting are pointless because he just reads right off the powerpoint. Just make sure to memorize everything on the slides, I missed 3% on a midterm because I forgot just one tiny line about dinoflagellates, but as long as you have everything on the slides down, you're totally set for the tests

don't know why people are so positive about him... he covers a LOT of material and puts in zero effort into his lectures. sure you just have to memorize the slides to do well on the tests but after a while it feels like a waste of time. who really cares about the name of a certain slime mold?

Prof. Carlson is a great professor. He is very clear in term of what you need to know for midterm. His slides should be your main (or only) guide to prepare for midterm and final since the questions come directly from there. He shows passion for plants and their daily and medicinal usage -- you can learn a lot of interesting things.

straightforward lectures and powerpoint slides but there is A LOT of information to memorize, and every detail is important! i learned a lot and overall the class was interesting, but you have to invest quite a bit of time just to get a B...

Answered questions during lecture, plenty of office hours, straight-forward material and fair tests. Contrary to what others said, he does lecture, even though he mostly reads slides. He used the chalkboard multiple times to explain interesting concepts. Needs less pictures of plants on notes, though. It leave more time for review.

An awesome guy. Passionate about what he does. I highly recommend this class and I'm going to try to take more classes from him.

Fascinating stories. Attendance isn't required, but I go to all the lectures - it's like watching a live-action National Geographic special. Knows his stuff, and has a real-world perspective (he's a practicing physician as well)

The class turned out to be not what I expected. Lectures were pretty dried and boring. I mean I still learned lots of facts about plants, but the just did not get excited about the materials. Exams were straight-forward, just know everything on the slides in the reader. I went to lectures just to listen to his stories.

I took all the classes by Dr. Carlson, and he is awesome, a practicing physician & incorp. a lot of good stories!If you're good at memorizing- his classes are the ones to take, and get A's from. You'd have to literally memorize everything from all his slides(books not needed) to get an A, but its do-able. Everything is multiple choice- very simple.

No textbook for this class, just a reader. He relies a lot on powerpoint, but he does have to get a large amount of information across in a limited amount of time. Definitely worth a visit during office hours. A PhD in ethnobotany, he is also a practicing pediatrician. An amazing talent with some great adventure stories.

Carlson is an engaging lecturer who loves the subject and likes to give anecdotes. There is a lot of memorization, but it's all interesting material. The only downside is that he is stern and untalkative during office hours.

Pros: Exams are based on the endless slides, doesn't play tricks on exams, very straightforward. Cons: Lots of material to memorize (including the little details), lectures are HARD to stay awake through (I fall asleep 10 minutes into class). Memorizing his kabillion slides are the key to an A. Know your facts - it's hit or miss on his exams!

The class is pure memorization. His exams were tricky! Although they are all multiple choice and come directly from the slides, the questions are insanely specific. He talks very quickly in lecture so it's hard to take notes. Make flashcards instead.

Simply, THE BEST PROFESSOR at Berkeley. He changed my life forever. If you're pre-med and you do not enjoy his courses, something's wrong with you and you've chosen the wrong field. Whether human repro, anatomy, medical ethnobotany, or evolutionary medicine, Dr. Carlson rocked the class with knowledge. Love this guy. He's amazingly awesome!

THE BEST PROFESSOR at Berkeley. He changed my life forever. If you're pre-med and you do not enjoy his courses, something's wrong with you and you've chosen the wrong field. Whether human repro, anatomy, medical ethnobotany, or evolutionary medicine, Dr. Carlson rocked the class with knowledge. Love this guy. He's amazingly awesome!

As far as biology classes go, Carlson's classes are very straight-forward. Memorize everything in the reader and you will ace the tests. The class overall is pretty useless UNLESS you take the lab portion IB131L. It makes the class much easier and much more interesting- otherwise you are just memorizing useless, random words without context.

lots of slides. how many? 6 slides a page, 458 pages, so 2,748 slides to read. some are repeats though. REALLY easy if you have great memory and if you know what some words mean/can relate them, hepaticliver, afferentaffinity, podofoot. he gives a list of these. fell asleep easily. can skip class, he sends out any necessary updates w/ email.

There is a lot of information for the second and third midterm, it can be overwhelming. He seemed to be just as likely to test an obscure detail as he was a major topic so although attendance isn't necessary (never went to lecture and got a B), going to lecture/office hours will help you differentiate what to study and get an A.

took all 4 of his classes---Carlson is a GODSEND to the IB department at Cal. incredibly interesting material (esp IB 169), his office hours are enjoyable, and his classes are easy GPA-booster As---if you keep up with all the material and memorize every single detail (this really just takes discipline and flashcards). he doesn't trick you on exams!

He just reads off slides so I didn't attend class, though if you do, he sometimes hints at what is important/may be on the exam. Literally know every detail, because every detail is fair game. However, exams are MC and no tricks. So basically, your grade is all on your ability to memorize (subject itself is interesting though).

Focus on the readers! Great professor and clear grading. Exams are all multiple choice however, you have to get 90% or higher on the exams if you want an A in the class. IB 131L experience is based off of GSI. I didnt like my GSI due to putting all the work on ugsis and creating weird quizzes just because he was competing with another GSI.

Evolutionary Medicine is by far the best class I've taken in the IB department. Taking this class will give you a more comprehensive perspective on medicine and how our ancestors have evolved. Lastly, Carlson is a genuine, down to the earth guy who clearly wants his students to succeed. He's very knowledgable as well.

This class is unique since it exposes you to the medicinal properties of plants as well as their mechanism(s) of action in the body. Hence, the material itself is intriguing whilst the lectures can be dry sometimes. Overall, Carlson is a benevolent, unpretentious guy who genuinely wants his students to succeed. P.S. The class should be 3 units!

I went to his office hours rather often and he has so much knowledge to share from his 30 years of practicing medicine; but it doesn't always show through during his lectures. Great guy, teaches the most interesting classes, but tends to present it rather dryly. Would recommend anyway!

Carlson is knowledgable given his experience; after taking all 4 of his classes, it is evident that he enjoys spending time with students during office hours. Nonetheless, the lectures can be dry however, if you want to do well in class, it is best to attend them. P.S. IB 169 is still my favorite among his classes.

Professor Carlson is an amazing professor, he is extremely passionate about what he teaches and is very knowledgeable in his various courses as he has practiced medicine for over 30 years; I especially enjoyed attending office hours. If you are in IB at Cal, I highly recommend taking one of his classes!

Tom Carlson is a good professor. He puts effort into teaching and it shows. He's the definition of lecture heavy, but there are no surprises on his tests and he's helpful at office hours.