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ZOOLOGY

Zoology

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The department at a glance

All recorded grades
average GPA
A / AB grades
letter grades

How grades break down

Grades over time

Red: department · Gray: UW–Madison

About these statistics

GPA and percentages are weighted by recorded letter grades. UW comparisons use the same terms. Cross-listed courses count once within this department and once across UW; department totals should not be added together. Grade counts are not unique students. Offering counts reflect captured records, not a complete historical schedule.

Spring 2027

Recorded this term
courses with offerings
instructors recorded

Grades have not been recorded for this term. Historical results remain in the overview above.

Across course levels

Recorded this term

No released grades for this term.

Recorded offerings over time

Find your next class

46 courses

Seminars in Endocrinology-Reproductive Physiology promote scientific development through research presentations delivered to a scientific audience, including professional development topics.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Evolutionary biology course emphasizing how modern scientists study evolution, covering microevolution, macroevolution, systematics, quantitative genetics, and phylogenetic analyses.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · John Hawks

Assessment consisted of ten-point weekly quizzes based on lectures and readings, which one student found manageable enough to earn an A without reading the book.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Limnology and Marine Science Seminar covers sections in various fields of zoological research.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Introductory Biology covers cell structure, cellular metabolism, information flow, genetics, and selected topics in Animal Physiology.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Simon Gilroy

The course was moderately difficult and memorization-heavy on exams, which some students found tricky. Labs required outside class hours, but TAs were helpful in guiding students through completing lab reports.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Introductory Biology covers plant physiology, the five major kingdoms, speciation, evolutionary theory, and ecology across biological scales.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Kate McCulloh

The course demanded plenty of memorization for the botany portion, while lectures were noted to be dense in content.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Animal Biology covers general biological principles including evolution, ecology, cell structure, genetics, and human physiology.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Sharon Thoma, Lauren Riters

Exams were described as challenging, with one student noting Lauren Riters' test was the hardest of the semester. Sharon Thoma's exams required significant study time, and students were advised to use the Learning Center and office hours to prepare.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Introductory animal biology lab focusing on evolutionary relationships, body plans, and dissections of earthworm, mussel, squid, sea star, and rat.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Sarah Edlund

The biology content could feel overwhelming, though the instructor made learning the lab material fun and enjoyable.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Explores foundational ideas in ecology, tracing the discipline's development, roots of modern ecological thought, and research approaches.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2025–Spring 2025 · limited sample

Examines how arthropods exploit plants, plant defense traits, environmental mediation, population dynamics, community ecology, co-evolution, and implications for natural resource management and sustainable development.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Conservation Biology explores the science of protecting nature and preserving biodiversity, examining biological and socioeconomic factors underlying conservation challenges and impacts from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2025–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Introductory ecology covering organism-environment relationships, population dynamics, community organization, human-environment interactions, and action programs.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Tony Ives

Anthony Ives used quizzes worth 20 points each, with a 60-point final. A student warned that even a couple of wrong answers lowered scores, but extra credit could raise a grade.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

General Ecology covers the ecology of organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, landscapes, and the biosphere, focusing on interactions with the physical environment.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Thomas Givnish

Exams were heavily based on memorizing old research papers from the readings rather than lecture material.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Ecosystem Concepts covers the scope and objectives of ecosystem ecology, including theory, long-term and comparative studies, large-scale experiments, scaling problems, ecosystem services, ecological economics, and adaptive management.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2025 · limited sample

Molecular Ecology covers basic principles including population genetics, molecular phylogenetics, rates and patterns of evolution, genome evolution, and molecular ecology.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Sean Schoville

The course featured a hard exam with written answers that the student found very subjective. The reviewer noted that the exam was significantly more difficult than expected.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2025 · limited sample

Introduction to Entomology covering principles of insect morphology and classification, with outcomes focusing on identifying anatomical structures and classifying insects.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Dan Young

The class was described as very time-consuming and required significant memorization of Latin names. While not extraordinarily hard, it demanded a lot of work, though the instructor helped students through the material.

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Ecology of Fishes covers interactions of fishes with physical, chemical, and biotic environments, including physiological ecology, community ecology, and fisheries sciences, with field trips to Lake Mendota and Shedd Aquarium.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Ecology of Fishes Lab covers the anatomy and taxonomy of Wisconsin fishes and includes projects in fish ecology.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

An introduction to ornithology covering bird biology, ecology, and behavior, including evolution, flight mechanics, migration, communication, and conservation.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

A lab-based course focused on identifying Southern Wisconsin birds by sight and sound, including two required Saturday field trips.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Developmental Neuroscience covers neural development mechanisms including induction, patterning, axon guidance, and synapse formation through lectures and primary literature discussion.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Hands-on research course where students work with microbes to test original hypotheses on antibiotic discovery, contributing data to the Tiny Earth network to address antibiotic resistance.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Biology in Popular Media teaches introductory biology concepts and analyzes depictions of biology, biologists, and the scientific method in movies, TV, and documentaries.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2026–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Introductory Biology covers cell structure, metabolism, genetics, and animal physiology for engineering majors without a lab component.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Directed study or independent research where students experience hypothesis development and research through faculty mentorship.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

No recorded grade history

Directed Studies in Zoology offers directed study or independent research where students experience hypothesis development and research through faculty mentorship.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2024–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Invertebrate Biology and Evolution introduces invertebrate diversity and biology, emphasizing anatomy, development, and systematic relationships of main animal phyla from a phylogenetic and developmental perspective.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026

Lab course introducing invertebrate diversity, focusing on anatomy, development, and systematic relationships of main animal phyla within evolutionary themes.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026 · limited sample

Intermediate-level Topics in Biology where each section explores a different topic in biology.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026

Explores how genetic differences reveal human evolutionary and demographic history, and how history shapes genetic diversity. Covers disease risks, ancestry kits, and limits of genomics for describing race.

Offering recorded · Spring 2027 · Sources

Past student reviews · Aaron Ragsdale

One student described the assignments as little, suggesting a manageable workload for the course.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2023–Spring 2026