Current instructor

Jim Berkelman

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

Raw average: 4.19/5 from 85 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

FW110 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
He does a great job at teaching the course. There is a lot of content, but he makes lectures as fun as he can. He mentioned many interesting facts about Wisconsin, which I found cool. Attendance isn't mandatory, but the slides are vague, so you won't learn much just by reading the slides. I would recommend the class to anyone looking for a gen ed
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FW110 · course not matched
Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
pretty basic concepts of ecology, overall very easy to learn. test questions are multiple choice, but very specific questions, which makes it hard to prepare for. Kind of a boring lecturer, he gets on tangents once in a while, and has a monotone voice. But overall pretty easy class if you are looking for an easy natural science credit!
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FWE110 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Jim has been my favorite professor here so far. He seems genuinely passionate about what he is teaching and workload is completely manageable. There's one discussion post per week and two nature walk activities that can provide a good amount of extra credit. Tests do require a fair amount of memorization, but they aren't too bad.
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FWECOL110 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 1/5
Prof. Berkelman is a very nice guy. The lectures are a little boring content-wise but he is pretty funny and tries to make them more fun. Very easy content just kind of boring. Grading was super lax, all the assignments were essentially full points if you do them on time.
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FW110 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
This class is low-key a little boring, but the professor is super nice and passionate. The material is not hard to grasp however the tests are actually pretty difficult compared to what you would except because most of the questions are super niche and nit picky so that is a little tough. DO THE NATURE WALSK EARLY it gives you extra credit
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FW318 · course not matched
Quality 5/5Difficulty 2/5
Jim is a great professor, he made me excited to learn about the topics he was teaching and he is very passionate about his work and field.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Jim Berkelman

A general survey of wildlife and wildlife conservation covering population management, habitats, and human interactions.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 2.94 GPA, 44.4% A/AB (n=124 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.01 GPA, 48.1% A/AB (n=108 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.03 GPA, 44.9% A/AB (n=136 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Fall 2025

F&WECOL 299 is an independent study course allowing students to conduct research in Forest and Wildlife Ecology under faculty guidance.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

F&WECOL 318 covers major environmental factors, population structure and behavior, and conservation of regional wildlife communities.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2023: 3.26 GPA, 63.0% A/AB (n=46 letter grades); Fall 2024: 3.09 GPA, 52.9% A/AB (n=51 letter grades); Fall 2025: 3.38 GPA, 65.1% A/AB (n=43 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Fall 2025

F&WECOL 699 is a special problems course allowing individual advanced work in Forest and Wildlife Ecology under faculty guidance.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026F&WECOL 110Living with Wildlife - Animals, Habitats, and Human Interactions
Fall 2026F&WECOL 299Independent Study
Fall 2026F&WECOL 318Principles of Wildlife Ecology
Fall 2026F&WECOL 399Coordinative Internship/cooperative Education
Fall 2026F&WECOL 699Special Problems
Fall 2026F&WECOL 799Practicum in Forestry and Wildlife Ecology Teaching

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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