Spring 2027

Environmental Economics

Environmental Economics applies microeconomic principles to natural resources like air, water, forests, and energy, examining pollution control and preservation versus development.

offering recorded3–4 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Corbett Grainger4.1/5

Summary

1 / 6

Past student reviews · Corbett Grainger

The course required minimal reading and relied heavily on PowerPoint slides. Exams were described as challenging but fair, with one student noting the material was not easy but manageable.

What you’ll be able to do

  • Understand why environmental problems occur in a market-based economy.

  • Identify market-based environmental policies to address market failures.

  • Explain the social, economic, and/or environmental dimensions of the sustainability challenge(s) of pollution control.

  • Apply sustainability principles and/or frameworks to addressing the challenge of optimizing the use of scarce resources over time.

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2 UW Guide 3

Grade history

↗
average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

A A E 101(215 prior to Fall 2024),ECON 101, or 111

AAE/ECON/ENVIRST 343

This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027
Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.39/5 from 33 quality ratings. The adjusted rating blends this with the UW review average (3.66/5), weighted as 20 additional ratings. Smaller samples stay closer to that average. Each captured review is counted once in the prior; this does not correct who chooses to leave a review.

For this course: 4.4/5 raw quality · 2.4/5 difficulty · 21 reviews

RMP profile ↗ · All captured review dates; profile matched by name.

Past student reviews · Corbett Grainger

Corbett Grainger teaches a conceptual, non-calculus economics course with minimal reading and heavy PowerPoint use. Students found exams fair but challenging, noting that attending lectures and discussion sessions was crucial for success. While some appreciated the accessible material, others felt the cross-listing with environmental studies sometimes weakened the economics depth.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2014: 3.23 GPA, 61.3% A/AB (n=119 letter grades); Fall 2015: 2.85 GPA, 38.3% A/AB (n=128 letter grades); Spring 2020: 3.54 GPA, 77.2% A/AB (n=79 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Past student reviews · Jennifer Alix-Garcia

Jennifer Alix-Garcia taught this course with passion, and students who attended lectures reported doing well on exams. The homework was described as relevant and helpful, contributing to a manageable difficulty level.

CORBETT GRAINGER is recorded teaching in Fall 2010, Spring 2011, Fall 2011, Fall 2012, Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Spring 2020. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

Calendar & sections

Spring 2027

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 500
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 360
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 250
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 360
DIS 301Classroom Instruction0 / 250
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 250

Times are Central. Select a meeting for details; export includes recorded dates for the selected sections. Enrollment reflects scan time.

Meeting source records

Student experience

the class

Past student reviews · Corbett Grainger

Students found Corbett Grainger’s lectures interesting and approachable. The class was described as engaging, with exams that were challenging but fair.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.07 GPA, 54.5% A/AB (n=44 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.24 GPA, 58.5% A/AB (n=41 letter grades); Spring 2026: 2.91 GPA, 48.1% A/AB (n=27 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Past student reviews · Corbett Grainger

The course required minimal reading and relied heavily on PowerPoint slides. Exams were described as challenging but fair, with one student noting the material was not easy but manageable.

Past student reviews · Corbett Grainger

Office hours were described as enormously helpful for understanding the material. Students emphasized that attending discussion sections was essential for solidifying lecture content and preparing for exams.

Topics

  • Microeconomic principles for natural resources including air, water, forests, fisheries, minerals, and energy.
  • Applications to pollution control, preservation vs. development, and deforestation.

Skills

  • Identify market-based environmental policies to address market failures.
  • Apply sustainability principles and/or frameworks to optimize the use of scarce resources over time.

Grades

Latest available · Spring 2026— not enough history to project Spring 2027.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Spring 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Not enough comparable courses for Spring 2027 in UW–Madison.

Sources & history

UW–Madison

Catalog & offerings

Descriptions, prerequisites, and recorded course offerings.

Catalog observation history

Observations at scan time; dates do not imply when a catalog change took effect.

Selected offering source records
AAE/ECON/ENVIRST 343 · Spring 2027

Environmental Economics

Recorded 2026-10-14
AAE/ECON/ENVIRST 343 · Spring 2027

Environmental Economics

Recorded 2026-10-14
AAE/ECON/ENVIRST 343 · Spring 2027

Environmental Economics

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records
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    "offering_id": "1274:108:007290",
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    "source_course_id": "007290",
    "source_subject_id": "108",
    "title": "Environmental Economics",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 4,
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    "credits_min": 3,
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    "offering_id": "1274:360:007290",
    "course_id": "AAE/ECON/ENVIRST 343",
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    "source_course_id": "007290",
    "source_subject_id": "360",
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    "credits_min": 3,
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]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
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