Current instructor

Katrina Forest

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

Raw average: 3.56/5 from 9 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

MICROBIO 101
Quality 3/5Difficulty 5/5
She was probably the best LECTURER in the course, but her exams were so difficult, requiring you to know things that were so in depth or covered very briefly in very small font. I did the worst on her exams because of this, which is unfortunate because I liked her lecturing style and I found it easy to follow.
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MICROBIO 101
Quality 2/5Difficulty 5/5
Prof. Forest is knowledgeable about Microbiology. Her exams on the other hand, cover things we either didn't discuss in lecture or didn't go into detail about. Average for the first exam was a C. The exam was more about being able to pick the best guess and questions were worded confusingly. The other professors for MICROBIO101 are more fair.
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MICROBIO 101
Quality 2/5Difficulty 5/5
Professor Forest is very passionate about her teaching; however she doesn't provide a lot of content in class or in slides and expects you to read the textbook a lot. Her exams are also very challenging compared to the lectures that she teaches in class. She makes the questions way harder than what we've ever done or discussed.
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MICRO470 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Dr. Forest is a terrific lecturer. However, she also doesn't tend to use slides. This means studying off of the book that has a lot of extra information or off of your probably very messy notes taken from her whiteboard. Without the help of my friends on the problem sets, I would have struggled in this class. Confusing problems were also an issue.
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MICROBIO 470
Quality 3/5Difficulty 5/5
Don't take this class in the Spring. Both professors are awful and do not give fair exams in the slightest. Exam averages were around a 60% and the material on the exam expects way too much from the students. Dr. Forest thinks we are all experts by the time the exam arrives, which is far from the case. There is no indication of what to study.
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MICRO470 · course not matched
Quality 4/5Difficulty 4/5
Lectures were long and sometimes boring but she tried to keep us engaged with in class activities. Its probably helpful to do the readings before class. Tests are pretty hard but similar to the assignments she gives.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Katrina Forest

CHEM 980 is a graduate-level seminar where students engage in research discussions facilitated by faculty within their research group.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Spring 2026
CHEM 990

Research

1–15 credits

CHEM 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised research projects with individual faculty members.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

GENERAL MICROBIOLOGY surveys microorganisms, covering their structure, function, ecology, and applied aspects in medical and industrial fields.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Katrina Forest is praised for her passion and clear lecturing style, with one reviewer calling her the best lecturer in the course. However, she is criticized for providing minimal content in slides and expecting heavy textbook reading.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

MICROBIO 299 is an independent study course allowing students to conduct research in microbiology under faculty guidance.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Fall 2025 · limited sample

MICROBIAL GENETICS & MOLECULAR MACHINES examines modern microbial genetics and molecular processes.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Katrina Forest is criticized for assuming students are experts by exam time, leading to unfair exams with unclear study expectations. Reviewers report that the material covered on tests exceeds what was taught, resulting in low average scores and high difficulty.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

MICROBIO 682 is the second semester of individual study for majors completing theses for Honors degrees, arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

MICROBIO 692 is a second-semester individual study course for microbiology majors completing their senior theses under faculty supervision.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

MICROBIO 699 is an independent study course allowing students to conduct advanced microbiology research under faculty guidance.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026 · limited sample

MICROBIO 899 is an independent study course allowing students to conduct research in biological science under faculty direction.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

MICROBIO 990 is a research course involving full lab and literature review of a microbiology problem, leading to thesis preparation and publication.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026CHEM 980Seminar: Review of Current Research
Fall 2026CHEM 990Research
Fall 2026MICROBIO 101General Microbiology
Fall 2026MICROBIO 299Independent Study
Fall 2026MICROBIO 470Microbial Genetics & Molecular Machines
Fall 2026MICROBIO 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026MICROBIO 682Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026MICROBIO 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2026MICROBIO 692Senior Thesis
Fall 2026MICROBIO 699Special Problems
Fall 2026MICROBIO 899Independent Study
Fall 2026MICROBIO 990Research

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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