Spring 2027

Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry

Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry covers nutrient and contaminant transformations by microbes, emphasizing enzymatic mechanisms, molecular analysis of populations, and bioremediation applications.

offering recorded3 credits
Recorded instructors · Spring 2027 Zac Freedman

Summary

1 / 3

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.71 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=21 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.73 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=30 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.78 GPA, 95.7% A/AB (n=23 letter grades).

What you’ll be able to do

  • Describe the soil environment from the perspective of a microbe

  • Explain the importance of soil microbes for globally important issues such as climate change, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity

  • Describe key methods used to study soil microbes and explain their limitations

  • Analyze microbial community data to answer the question, are the organisms in these communities different, and how

  • Discuss and critically evaluate scientific papers in soil microbiology at an advanced undergraduate level

  • Conduct, analyze, and interpret a research project

  • Discuss and critically evaluate scientific papers in soil microbiology at a graduate level

  • Design, conduct, analyze, and interpret a research project, drawing on the broader literature

Source: UW Guide 1 UW Guide 2

Grade history

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

All recorded terms · compare terms & instructors

Prerequisites

Course map

Senior standing, (CHEM 104, 109, or 116) and (ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY 102,BOTANY/​BIOLOGY 130, or ZOOLOGY/​BIOLOGY/​BOTANY 151), or graduate/professional standing

MICROBIO/SOILSCI 523

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

Prerequisite text tree

Professors

Spring 2027

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2026: 3.78 GPA, 95.7% A/AB (n=23 letter grades).

Historical instructors & teaching patterns

ZAC FREEDMAN is recorded teaching in Spring 2026. 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
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 400
LEC 001Classroom Instruction0 / 400

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

Recent recorded grades — Spring 2024: 3.71 GPA, 85.7% A/AB (n=21 letter grades); Spring 2025: 3.73 GPA, 83.3% A/AB (n=30 letter grades); Spring 2026: 3.78 GPA, 95.7% A/AB (n=23 letter grades).

difficulty & workload

No workload feedback recorded.

Topics

  • Nutrient and contaminant transformations in soils and groundwater
  • Enzymatic mechanisms and metabolic pathways
  • Microbial population analysis and molecular techniques
  • Bioremediation of contaminated soils and groundwater
  • Global importance of soil microbes in climate change, nutrient cycling, and biodiversity

Skills

  • Understanding enzymatic mechanisms and metabolic pathways for nutrient and contaminant transformations
  • Analyzing microbial populations and activities using molecular techniques
  • Applying microbial activities for bioremediation of contaminated soils and groundwater
  • Analyzing microbial community data

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.

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Selected offering source records
MICROBIO/SOILSCI 523 · Spring 2027

Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry

Recorded 2026-10-14
MICROBIO/SOILSCI 523 · Spring 2027

Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry

Recorded 2026-10-14
Raw records 
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    "title": "Soil Microbiology and Biochemistry",
    "credits_min": 3,
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Madgrades

Grade history

Recorded grade distributions by term, section, and instructor.

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Dataset & model

Recorded 2026-10-14

View the dataset on Hugging Face
Model outputs & technical records
Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B
LLM outputs across runs
Download part 1
Full model traces

Recorded model configuration, reasoning, and tool conversations.

Download part 1
Model & dataset provenance 
{
  "model": "Qwen/Qwen3.8-27B",
  "model_revision": "1d4bf0f2ff6012fd82039f2fa52739d0dd7c60c0",
  "task_version": "17",
  "output_id": "f703ff6c8ed2ffdfe317518f8900256f9b7164545f36f3598b690c03b118d6bc",
  "requirements_status": "valid",
  "dataset_revision": "fc1811fa52e581ea57a35c0cf3343f8740a8ffbf",
  "observed_at": "2026-10-14 17:50:09.728220+00:00"
}