Richard Shaker

Richard Shaker really forces you to think outside of the box. Usually, his assignments are very vague on purpose to make sure you're thinking critically. He really encourages students to learn on their own and come to their own conclusions instead of outright telling them. He is what I think all professors should strive to be. Highly recommend!

He is extremely knowledgeable and personable. Students can approach him with issues. The only challenge of this class is the massive amount of reading. He doesn't do final exams and does open book mid terms. You still got to read.

Awful professor. Only cares about himself and his own work. Easy grader but be prepared to hear him talk about himself incessantly.

Good lecturer, and good course material. Focussed to much in his own work, and presents the course from a fairly single-perspective POV. Would like to see more work to integrate female and indigenous knowledge in landscape ecology material, given the abundant contributions from non-white males to shaping this discipline.

When I started this class I wasn't into this prof at all but now I really respect the guy. He pushes you to think outside the box that students are often stuffed into and allows you to think critically and independently. Tough, smart and down-to-earth. You may be annoyed at first that the info is not being spoon-fed but it's worth it! Recommend!

Shaker's assignments are great but he is easily one of the worst lecturers in the department. His slides are a repetitive, dense and boring. Weeks into the class you will ask yourself, what is the point of this lecture if Shaker himself isn't even interested? It seems that there is just so much unimportant information bogging up the slides.