Fall 2026

Global Environmental Issues

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES explores the global and local nature of environmental problems through an interdisciplinary and geographic perspective.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Fall 2026 William Gartner3.7/5Emily FornofGenevieve Kell

Summary

1 / 7

Grades rely on three exams and weekly discussion papers. Exams are frequently described as difficult, specific, or poorly worded, requiring strict attendance and note-taking as slides are often unhelpful.

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

None

  • None
ENVIRST/GEOG 139 used by

“Used by” includes alternatives; linked courses may have other requirements. This is a best-effort interpretation; check the catalog requirements above.

Prerequisite text tree
  • None

Professors

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

Raw average: 3.78/5 from 27 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: 3.6/5 raw quality · 3.0/5 difficulty · 14 reviews

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

William Gartner is described as passionate, engaging, and caring, with students finding his energy exciting and his lectures helpful for engagement. Reviewers appreciate his respect for students and the interesting content on climate change and social issues.

Critics report that Gartner mumbles, speaks slowly, and goes on tangents, making lectures hard to follow. Some students found exams difficult due to specific wording or vague slides, while others noted issues with classroom acoustics and technology.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.22 GPA, 50.5% A/AB (n=99 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.35 GPA, 60.3% A/AB (n=73 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.40 GPA, 65.2% A/AB (n=161 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

Historical reviews of Bilal Butt describe him as knowledgeable and helpful in office hours, though his fast speaking pace requires careful note-taking or recording. Reviewers found the material interesting and exams manageable with minimal study.

BILAL BUTT is recorded teaching in Spring 2011. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

IAN BAIRD is recorded teaching in Fall 2010, Fall 2011, Fall 2012. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

MORGAN ROBERTSON is recorded teaching in Fall 2013, Fall 2014, Fall 2015, Fall 2016, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Fall 2022, Fall 2023, Fall 2024, Spring 2026. Recorded history may be incomplete and does not establish a future schedule.

WILLIAM GARTNER is recorded teaching in Fall 2007, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Spring 2014, Spring 2015, Spring 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Fall 2019, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025. 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 Instruction98 / 1741
DIS 301Classroom Instruction17 / 220
DIS 302Classroom Instruction0 / 200
DIS 303Classroom Instruction14 / 220
DIS 304Classroom Instruction18 / 220
DIS 306Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 308Classroom Instruction20 / 200
DIS 310Classroom Instruction14 / 220
DIS 311Classroom Instruction15 / 221
LEC 001Classroom Instruction63 / 1740
DIS 301Classroom Instruction4 / 220
DIS 302Classroom Instruction18 / 220
DIS 303Classroom Instruction7 / 220
DIS 304Classroom Instruction4 / 220
DIS 306Classroom Instruction16 / 220
DIS 308Classroom Instruction0 / 220
DIS 310Classroom Instruction8 / 220
DIS 311Classroom Instruction6 / 220

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

Meeting source records
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Student experience

the class

William Gartner is described as passionate and engaging, with students finding the course interesting and rewarding. However, experiences vary significantly, with some reviewers citing difficult exams due to wording and others finding them easy.

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2025: 3.35 GPA, 60.3% A/AB (n=73 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.40 GPA, 65.2% A/AB (n=161 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.41 GPA, 64.4% A/AB (n=73 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

Grades rely on three exams and weekly discussion papers. Exams are frequently described as difficult, specific, or poorly worded, requiring strict attendance and note-taking as slides are often unhelpful.

Students report mixed experiences with lecture delivery, citing issues with mumbling, tangents, and room acoustics. While some find the content impactful, others find lectures boring or hard to follow without attending.

Topics

  • Climate change, food, energy, globalization, deforestation, biodiversity loss, resource access, environmental justice, and population
  • Context-specific and place-dependent problems or conflicts

Skills

  • Analyze and act on environmental problems
  • Understand and address issues through interdisciplinary and geographic perspectives

Grades

Historical instructor

Fall 2026 · Projected

Before grades are released

– average GPA

Approximate 80% prediction interval

About this estimate

The course’s semester-average GPA, not an individual student’s grade. The center uses 5 same-season terms, weighted toward recent results.

The range uses the finite-sample 80th-percentile rank of absolute errors from earlier same-season forecasts. Each forecast uses only records from earlier terms. At least four forecasts are required; bounds are rounded outward and limited to 0–4. This is an empirical estimate: changing instructors or grading policies can reduce its coverage.

8 earlier forecasts · 0.15 GPA average error.

Grades over time

Through Fall 2026

More grade details Grade mix, volume & source data

Where this course fits relative to

Latest available grades · Spring 2026 · 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

1283 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.

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Selected offering source records
ENVIRST/GEOG 139 · Fall 2026

Global Environmental Issues

Recorded 2026-09-07
ENVIRST/GEOG 139 · Fall 2026

Global Environmental Issues

Recorded 2026-09-07
Raw records
[
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:360:008199",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/GEOG 139",
    "course_uid": "course_05b75b04412e7d7cd78182dd",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "008199",
    "source_subject_id": "360",
    "title": "Global Environmental Issues",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  },
  {
    "run_id": "20260907T155543-ce3781c4",
    "semester": "1272",
    "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00",
    "offering_id": "1272:416:008199",
    "course_id": "ENVIRST/GEOG 139",
    "course_uid": "course_05b75b04412e7d7cd78182dd",
    "term_id": "1272",
    "source_course_id": "008199",
    "source_subject_id": "416",
    "title": "Global Environmental Issues",
    "credits_min": 3,
    "credits_max": 3,
    "typically_offered": "Fall, Spring"
  }
]
Rate My Professors

Student reviews

Original comments behind the course and instructor summaries.

Read original reviews
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

Explore recorded grades
Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-09-07

Download the original dataset
Model outputs & technical records
nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance
{
  "model": "nvidia/Qwen3.6-35B-A3B-NVFP4",
  "model_revision": "1355db6a052410cfd62085d94b58866fd0f2c3c5",
  "task_version": "14",
  "output_id": "3f70b375e12970449e6778a3e031cb89ff5b934fd9b1cf59300416e46b16e5c8",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "e243353dcb7d79b7247ced91d69443ef4c2a6349",
  "observed_at": "2026-09-07 15:55:43.033547+00:00"
}