Fall 2026

Climatic Environments of the Past

ATMOCN/ENVIRST/GEOG/GEOSCI 335 examines climate variability across timescales, focusing on external forcings, earth system feedbacks, and human activity.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 Shaun Marcott3.9/5Sophia Pinter

Summary

1 / 6

The course is not too hard, with exams that are manageable if students use the textbook to understand the material covered.

Grade history

average GPA
letter grades
A
AB
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BC
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F

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Sophomore standing

  • Sophomore standing
ATMOCN/ENVIRST/GEOG/GEOSCI 335

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

Prerequisite text tree
  • Sophomore standing

Professors

Fall 2026
/5Adjusted rating
/5RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 4.62/5 from 8 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: 5.0/5 raw quality · 2.5/5 difficulty · 2 reviews

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

Shaun Marcott is described as caring, kind, and knowledgeable, with a genuine desire for student success. He is noted for being respectful of student time while ensuring necessary learning occurs, and is willing to make accommodations.

Reviewers find Marcott's lectures interesting and funny. The course is considered manageable for students with prior geoscience background, with the textbook serving as a key resource for exam preparation.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2020: 3.26 GPA, 60.0% A/AB (n=60 letter grades); Fall 2022: 3.16 GPA, 62.7% A/AB (n=59 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.46 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=36 letter grades). Includes jointly taught sections.

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical review from Joseph Skulan describes the course as a pretty good class with low difficulty and high quality.

SHAUN MARCOTT is recorded teaching in Fall 2020, Fall 2022, Fall 2024. 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

Fall 2026

Schedule loads here as you scroll.

SectionModeEnrolled / capacityWaitlist
LEC 001Classroom Instruction11 / 402
LEC 001Classroom Instruction1 / 400
LEC 001Classroom Instruction12 / 400
LEC 001Classroom Instruction14 / 400

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

Shaun Marcott is a highly rated, caring, and funny instructor who makes the course accessible and enjoyable for students with or without prior background.

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.22 GPA, 46.7% A/AB (n=30 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.46 GPA, 66.7% A/AB (n=36 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.35 GPA, 63.3% A/AB (n=30 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

The course is not too hard, with exams that are manageable if students use the textbook to understand the material covered.

Students find the lectures interesting and appreciate Marcott's respect for their time and willingness to accommodate their needs.

Topics

  • Climatic environments of the past
  • Climate change timescales
  • External forcings and earth system feedbacks

Grades

Latest available · Fall 2025— not enough history to project Fall 2026.

average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades
Instructor

Grade distribution · % of letter grades

A
AB
B
BC
C
D
F

Grades over time

Through Fall 2025

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Fall 2025 · all course levels

GPA

Higher than % of other courses in this group.

Course GPAs · red marks this course’s range

letter grades

More recorded grades than % of other courses in this group.

Typical course in this group: letter grades.

About this comparison

1320 courses over the same term, each with at least 30 recorded letter grades. Cross-listed courses count once. GPA is not a measure of difficulty or teaching quality. The typical course is the median by recorded grade count; tied values are not counted as lower. Grade counts describe course scale, not unique students or typical section size.

Descriptions compare GPA with this group’s average: at least 0.20 higher or lower; otherwise close to average. Section size uses median recorded enrollment: small up to 30, mid-sized 31–99, large 100+. Lectures and discussion/lab sections are described separately.

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
ATMOCN/ENVIRST/GEOG/GEOSCI 335 · Fall 2026

Climatic Environments of the Past

Recorded 2026-09-07
ATMOCN/ENVIRST/GEOG/GEOSCI 335 · Fall 2026

Climatic Environments of the Past

Recorded 2026-09-07
ATMOCN/ENVIRST/GEOG/GEOSCI 335 · Fall 2026

Climatic Environments of the Past

Recorded 2026-09-07
ATMOCN/ENVIRST/GEOG/GEOSCI 335 · Fall 2026

Climatic Environments of the Past

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
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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.

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Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Model & dataset provenance
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