Dr Smith is a really nice, professional person who is really knowledgeable in her field. Lectures can be a little dry at times, but you'll manage. Exams are heavily based off of lecture, so attending is a must (plus clicker points). The exams were memory intensive, but were manageable as long as you understand the learning objectives.

I found Dr. Smith's keen investment in the topics and strong speaking skill to result in really enjoyable lectures even if they were content-heavy. She had no problem slowing class down to further explain a concept as necessary. Exams are tough; about 50% of the test is application questions. I wish she taught both halves of BIO142 not just Part 1!

Her online lectures very easy to understand. But, be warned! I never read the book and only paid attention to her online lectures and I was doing horrible on the quizzes. Make sure you do the readings as well--the quiz questions will be found in there. Exams are easy if you understand the labs and readings. Make sure to practice for the practical.

She is greather lectures are amazing! Take one of her classes. Tough, challenging, but fair. You will have to work to do well. I was always engaged and excited to come to class. I highly recommend her office hours and review sessions. She is clearly passionate about education. Bonus, she looks like a more attractive Sandra Bullock.

Lectures were always interesting and made a topic that can sometimes be very boring, to be always interesting. Always open for office hours. Very intelligent and caring.

She is a great speaker - lectures, including lecture slides, were very clear and filled with essential information. She is willing to help if you ask for it, and she is not judgmental. Would take again just because she is a great lecturer. Exams are moderately difficult. Make sure to review concepts and study objectives.

Her presentations are really great. Her portion of the class on evolution was really interesting but the harder half of the class. Her exams were surprisingly very challenging but most say it's because she's a new professor that just got her phD so she still has a lot of the graduate material on her mind. Make sure you do the learning objectives!

AMAZING PROFESSOR. I took this class over the summer and was worried it would be too much material to cram. But I still got an A.

Dr. Smith knows what she's talking about, and she makes you want to learn the information. That being said, the tests were unnecessarily tricky. If you study and read, however, you'll be fine. Interesting class, though some of the topics could be a little dry.

There was tons of material to know and memorize and the tests were pretty tricky, but it helped to read the textbook chapters before each class to stay on top of the info. However, her lectures are really interesting and she clearly enjoys teaching biology, so I did like the class.

Really nice lady and responds to emails very fast. The labs usually took up the whole time, but weren't difficult. Exams were fair, as long as you understand the key concepts/calculations for each exp you should be fine. The practical is very fast paced, make sure you master the skills in every lab! Be prepared for A LOT of math and Excel usage!

Practical skills exams are very time paced, be ready to finish things fast and master all the lab skills. Quizzes are fair but hard, read the book. Lots usage of math and excel. She responds to email so quickly. Would take her again.

Topics discussed in class were very interesting. Enjoyed discussing conservation problems and efforts of different species. Learned the statistics and programs used by biologists and conservationists to perform research. Professor was enthusiastic plus willing to help students learn and succeed.

Took Bio 142 in the summer with Dr. Smith. Her lectures are great! She is very engaged in the material and very open to students questions both during and after class. She cares about her students. The tests are tricky. Class test averages were in the low 70s. It's definitely possible to get an A with some effort. I would take her again!

Took over summer (recommended, no clickers required). Posts lectures slides, labs are fairly easy. Attendance is recorded (but not usually graded). Gave us an extra credit assignment. Online homework due every class. Took Bio 141 at another school, had no trouble with this class. Loves the subject and cares about students. Easier than CHEM

She is just awesome. The best professor I've had at UMBC so far. She is hilarious, her lectures are amazing and you will stay interested the whole class. Loves her dogs and always relates the material to them. Always respects students' opinion or their vision of a problem. The exams are pretty hard though, so don't be too relaxed.

Dr. Smith made the class very enjoyable, even for someone who doesn't really like biology. She presented information very clearly, and provided many examples to showcase what we're learning. Do the reading quizzes, they're easy points. Also, use the learning objectives to help prepare for exams. Exams can be pretty hard, you will need to study.

Dr. Smith is easily one of the best professors I've had so far. Her lectures were engaging, informative, and you could see how passionate she was about the subject. Most of her test were based of her slides and what she said in class, not the text in the book, so just keep that in mind.

Awesome professor. She's very enthusiastic, helpful, and interested in knowing her students' interests. I went to her office once and she gave me names of people in the dept that I could go to for research in a lab on campus. Exams are a little tough, but are pretty fair. She drops one of your lowest grades in each category. Lots of extra credit.

Dr. Smith is an amazing professor. Her lectures are great and she is always willing to help out if you are a struggling student. You can tell that she is very passionate about the material. Exams are kind of tough. Coming to class and taking lecture notes are the best ways to do well on them. There are a lot of extra credit opportunities though.

Dr. Smith was a wonderful professor. The class was graded on four exams with lowest dropped (70%), Active learning discussion with lowest dropped (15%), Homework (10%), and reading quizzes with lowest dropped (5%). The class material was not bad, BUT THE EXAMS WERE REALLY, REALLY HARD! Class averages on exams were low-mid 70s and there was no curve

Very good lecturer and she is funny. She is just very cool and she makes you actually excited to learn about bio. My only gripe is that her tests were rather difficult. I felt like her learning objectives and test material did not always match up. She also gave extra credit for going to the Smithsonian and the Aquarium. I wouldhighly recommend her.

This class basically the advanced version of BIOL 142. Lots of math and statistics were incorporated in it. Exams are tough but she lets you use a notecard. If you are good at math and stat, you will be good at this class. Also a lot of online work. If you work hard, you will do well. Dr. Smith really cares about the course and her students.

Dr. Smith was by far the best professor I've ever had at UMBC. BIO 466 is the amped up version of BIO 142, there is a good bit of math involved but nothing that's too crazy, it's very manageable. She does give a lot of work but the work is usually very easy and do-able if you attend class. 100% would take this class again, good bio upper level elec

Dr. Smith is one of the best professors Ive ever had. In addition to her passion and knowledge, shes a caring, funny, nerd. Learning is the easiest and most fun when youre learning from someone who truly loves what theyre teaching. Personally, I loafed pretty hard in BIOL466 but she was still helpful and accommodating towards me.

Very solid professor, and very nice. She is upfront about all her expectations in terms of your work and her grading. Some people don't like her because she is harder and doesn't curve anything, not even final grades. But she really knows her stuff and is very passionate about Biology. She co-taught with another professor but I liked Smith better.

Definitely one of the best upper level biology courses. Dr Smith is a really great professor and really cares about all of the students. Some of the coursework was confusing at times (especially the statistic programs) but everything was manageable and the content was interesting.

Dr. Smith has my entire heart, she loves bugs and I think that's cool. She also has the most amazing speaking voice.

Took over summer. Pretty easy to get an A, but you must study and make sure you write out answers to the learning objectives for all lecture power points! For extra credit, Make sure you cite all sources if you borrow information from the museum placards. She likes students who go to her office hours. Exams are fair! 6 weeks, 3 exams, drops lowest.

Dr. Smith is a sweetheart. She's very tough because she cares so much about what she's teaching, and it's apparent in class. ATTEND HER OFFICE HOURS, she's super accessible, incredibly patient and is willing to sit through tons of questions. Textbook wasn't super necessary, tests based off of PowerPoints, so go to class and ask questions!

Tracy is the the way to go for 142 and 302. Her lectures are extremely engaging and always a pleasure to sit through. Do the learning objectives! Her exams are challenging, but in a very fair way that's appropriate for the level of the class. She absolutely loves her dogs and will always try to relate them to the class material.

There are two professors I've had in my life for whom I will forever sing their praises, and Dr. Smith is one of them. Without being long and wordy, I will say that I have struggled for a very long time with test-taking and earning the grades I work so hard for. Dr. Smith went out of her way to work with me and I finally earned my first real A.

Dr. Smith is an absolutely incredible professor. Fall 2018 was her first time teaching the course, meaning we didn't receive any practice exams. She told us what material she found most important, and what to focus on. 4 exams total (including the final) with one dropped. So if you like your first 3 exam grades, you can drop the final.

I had her for BIOL142 in Summer 2019. As someone who isn't that great in life-science related classes, I was worried coming into this course. However, this is now one of my favorite courses I've taken. Dr. Smith pours her energy and knowledge into this class. She does her best to go as far as applying to real-life applications and not just bookwork

Dr Smith is extremely knowledgeable, and you can tell that she enjoys teaching. Her lectures are engaging, and clearly lay out what you need to know for exams. However, it is a tough class and is mostly exams. Make sure to keep up with learning objectives and redo mastering problems, and you should be able to get at least a B.

A very knowledgeable professor. Be sure to take advantage of office hours and pay attention to the learning objectives. Generally, if you are comfortable with the learning objectives you should have at least a B. The tests make the 'A' difficult to achieve, but it is doable. Keep up with the homework!

She knows the material she is talking about and teaches it very well. She also puts the powerpoints up right before the lecture, so that you can pull them up on your laptop or phone and follow along. Exams questions follow the powerpoints and some are straight off the homework. She drops 1 of the 4 exams and gives extra credit for 2 of the exams.

Dr. Smith has been one of my favorite professors so far. She is very nice and keeps you interested during lectures with her jokes. I honestly liked 142 much more than 141. Make sure to study for exam and pay attention in lectures. Overall, nothing bad to say about her.

A great professor and tries to make her lectures as engaging and as personable as possible. I took BIO123 (Human Genetic) With her and it was super timely with everything COVID related and transitioned the class online really well. You can tell she loves teaching and enjoys engaging her students in the material, even with a large lecture hall.

Overall, I'd say this class was very interesting. The exams were a little harder than I thought but doable if you actually pay attention in lectures and study the learning objectives. I would definitely be willing to take more classes with her, she's an awesome prof!

Dr. Smith organizes this course well, clearly outlining expectations and objectives. Like most courses a fair bit of the grade is determined by exams, but she dropped the lowest exam and provided some extra credit as well. She gives students the tools to succeed, but be prepared to put in the work throughout the entire semester.

Dr. Smith has long and thorough lectures. While attendance isn't required, if you skip it's gonna hurt a lot. She's a good enthusiastic professor who you can tell enjoys the material and explains things clearly. This class is tough, but if you read the textbook, pay attention in class, and do the learning objectives you will do well in this class.

Professor Smith is a professor who really cares for the field and her students. She always answered questions during lecture and responds to emails. The exams started out rough but got easier. She has this extra credit opportunity by going to a museum and writing an essay that was fun. This class was fun to learn, although tests are memory heavy

I LOVED Professor Tracy! She is very engaging and makes Bio interesting. She also gives a lot of extra credit (but no curves, obviously) so it was 110% my fault for not getting an A. Read textbook ahead of class and GO TO CLASS because there is attendance. I really had to work hard for exams, but the final was a breeze. She's beyond sweet and cares

I've taken BIOL142, 300L & 466 with Dr. Smith and I must say she is the BEST professor I've ever had! I can tell that she spends lots of time preparing for all her classes- her lecture slides are organized so beautifully & she teaches/explains very logically! Her exams are not easy but they're fair and will make you think/apply concepts deeper.

Truly an amazing professor! She is extremely passionate about what she's teaching and helping her students succeed. Definitely my favorite class and teacher I've taken at this school.

Do your work, show up prepared, and you will be good to go. No unreasonable expectations and she answers questions really well. Overall a nice person and will help you. I definitely recommend her for a lab.

Took this lab over the summer and it went great. Only had five lab reports and the experiments were fun and interesting. Include ALL your data in your results section to get full points since manual doesn't always explicitly say what to include. Tests are specific but fair, make sure to read the lab background info.

As someone who got stuck with a bad TA for 300L this semester, it's still possible to do well. If you have questions or concerns go to Dr. Smith directly, she is incredibly kind, caring, fair, and always willing to help. It is obvious she cares about her job and students, but that said, you will not get away with bare minimum effort in this class.

Dr. Smith is very kind and always answered my questions. The TAs of the course were not very knowledgeable so that made it a bit difficult but if you knew what you were doing by watching the provided videos before class then lab went smoothly.

I've had Dr. Smith for both BIOL 123 and BIOL 141 and had amazing experiences with both. She is very engaging, and you can tell she has a passion for what she teaches. She teaches tough courses and knows that but gives you great resources for studying. Complete the learning objectives, the help :) Dr Smith is my favorite teacher this school offers.

She really knows what she teaches: she's passionate and covers topics well. A ton of reading though and I found the homework pretty hard. But her exam questions were easier than the homework assignments in my opinion. Pay attention in lecture, she tailors her questions pretty well. Lots of interesting things to learn from her in this class :)

BIOL 300L is a tough class but I recommend taking it over the summer. If you read the manual and watch the videos before coming to class, it makes it much easier and Dr. Smith is there the whole time answering any questions you might have. The TA grades all the assignments, so follow the rubric and keep track of due dates and you'll be set.

All the grading reports are from the T.A., and Dr. Smith is always there during the lab and demonstrates every procedure that might be challenging. She gives us plenty of practice time for the skills portion and practice questions for the exam, and she is more than willing to stay behind and answer any questions that I have or clarify anything.

She really cares about her students and will help you improve your grade in any way she can. Has good lectures and exams are not too bad as long as you follow the learning objectives and know what you're doing.

Competent professor who is knowledgeable about her subject. Read the textbook, but you'll need to ask her to figure out what parts of it will actually be on exams

Overall, she was great. She explains things succinctly and really helps people learn. I loved the labs that she taught for and didn't find them difficult at all.

One of the best stem professors I've had so far. Dr. Smith's lectures are very engaging and interesting. She also cares about her students!! Make sure to study the lectures and its objectives, the discussion material and Pearson HWs over the txtbook. Her exams are very straightforward and she drops the lowest.

I'm not even a biology major (I'm comp-sci) and I found her to be an amazing lecturer; she's genuinely very engaging. However, I found her exams to be difficult; studying off of slides and hw problems is the best way to be successful. Is strict with curves even though exams were 60% of our grade. Attendance is mandatory and counts towards a grade.

had her for 141 and took 142 summer class after.141 exams were hard, learning objectives/lectures helped but si pass tutoring saved me from a C. very passionate ab her field and kind to talk to for help/ in general, wish there were more ways to help w understanding content tho. 142 was a lot easier esp in summer. dont take 141 if not a bio major.