Historical instructor

IAN BAIRD

Adjusted rating
RMP difficulty
captured reviews
About this rating

Raw average: 3.36/5 from 22 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.

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

What students say

Original student reviews · all captured dates

GEO337 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Taught me genuinely invaluable information that I still reference to this day. Tough class but I learned such important material.
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GEO337 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Great course, great professor
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ENVIRST/GEOG 337
Quality 1/5Difficulty 4/5
I will start by saying that the content of this course is understandable and the concepts aren't too difficult; however, I would not take this class again. Prof Baird is a very tough grader and it's quite difficult to understand what he wants from his students. Also, the lectures are pretty similar to the textbook.
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GEO337 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 5/5
I overall liked this class. Lectures can be very long and he tends to read off the slide but overall interesting content. Tests are wild cards so make sure to know the clean definitions. He expects a lot out of his students and is very tough grader. Take another environmental class before this one. Hard to grasp concepts w/o learning them before.
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ENVIRST/GEOG 557
Quality 5/5Difficulty 4/5
Ian is a very traditional lecturer, and most of the course consists of writing two papers, listening in lecture, doing the readings, and a final exam. I found his lecturing style engaging, but he gave minimal direction on the papers in class, so if you struggle with writing at all it would be best to talk to him about your paper in person.
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ENVIRST/GEOG 337
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Baird is a excellent teacher. I am surprised that some others do not see things the way I do. He is friendly and helpful and knows the material he teaches very well. His exams and assignments are not overly difficult.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with IAN BAIRD

No teaching recorded in Fall 2026.

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Recorded teaching history

Distinct courses recorded per term

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Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Spring 2026ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Spring 2026GEOG 358Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Spring 2026GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2025ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2025GEOG 500Qualitative Strategies in Geography
Fall 2025GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2025ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Spring 2025GEOG 930Seminar in People-environment Geography
Spring 2025GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2025GEOG 999Independent Work
Fall 2024ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Fall 2024GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2024GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2023GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2023GEOG 699Directed Study
Spring 2023GEOG 930Seminar in People-environment Geography
Spring 2023GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2023GEOG 999Independent Work
Fall 2022ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2022ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Fall 2022GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2022ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Spring 2022GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2021ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2021GEOG 500Qualitative Strategies in Geography
Fall 2021GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2020ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2020GEOG 358Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Fall 2020GEOG 699Directed Study
Fall 2020GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2020ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Spring 2020GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2020GEOG 999Independent Work
Fall 2019ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2019GEOG 500Qualitative Strategies in Geography
Fall 2019GEOG 699Directed Study
Fall 2019GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2019GEOG 358Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Spring 2019GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2018ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2018ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Fall 2018GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2018GEOG 999Independent Work
Spring 2018ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Spring 2018GEOG 358Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Spring 2018GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2017ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Fall 2017GEOG 500Qualitative Strategies in Geography
Fall 2017GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2017GEOG 682Senior Honors Thesis
Spring 2017GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2016GEOG 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2016GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2016GEOG 358Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Spring 2016GEOG 699Directed Study
Spring 2016GEOG 930Seminar in People-environment Geography
Spring 2016GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2016GEOG 999Independent Work
Fall 2015ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2015ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Fall 2015GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2015GEOG 999Independent Work
Spring 2015ENVIRST 699Directed Study
Spring 2015GEOG 699Directed Study
Spring 2015GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2014ENVIRST 404Special Topics in Environmental Humanities
Fall 2014ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Fall 2014GEOG 500Qualitative Strategies in Geography
Fall 2014GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2014ENVIRST/GEOG 337Nature, Power and Society
Spring 2014GEOG 358Human Geography of Southeast Asia
Spring 2014GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2013GEOG 930Seminar in People-environment Geography
Fall 2013GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2013ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Spring 2013GEOG 699Directed Study
Spring 2013GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Fall 2012ENVIRST/GEOG 139Global Environmental Issues
Fall 2012GEOG 500Qualitative Strategies in Geography
Fall 2012GEOG 699Directed Study
Fall 2012GEOG 990Research and Thesis
Spring 2012ENVIRST/GEOG 557Development and Environment in Southeast Asia
Fall 2011ENVIRST/GEOG 139Global Environmental Issues
Fall 2011GEOG 799Independent Reading
Fall 2011GEOG 930Seminar in People-environment Geography
Spring 2011GEOG 675Special Topics in Geography
Fall 2010ENVIRST/GEOG 139Global Environmental Issues
Fall 2010GEOG 699Directed Study
Fall 2010GEOG/URBRPL 503Researching the City: Qualitative Strategies

Teaching history may be incomplete. Course pages contain course-specific feedback and citations.

Instructor identity & provenance 
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