Current instructor

Ken Ferrier

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

Raw average: 3.48/5 from 23 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

Quality 3/5Difficulty 2/5
Professor Ferrier was very passionate about the material, but lectures could be very boring some days. Weekly labs in discussion were easy, and TAs were helpful, but a poor grade on one lab could ruin an otherwise good grade. He was a joy to talk to outside of class, and clearly a very caring person.
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Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Professor was passionate about topics discussed in class. Quizzes utilize textbook terms and vocabulary that was mentioned but not just the slides. TA's are great resources for labs, but only for that. Can be hard to balance for a new student.
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GEOSCI/GLE 350
Quality 4/5Difficulty 2/5
Took this class as an engineering elective (cross-listed as GLE350). One homework assignment a week and one group project at the end of the year with plenty of time to work on it. The lectures can be a little heavy, but Ken occasionally integrates some fun experiments to make it more engaging. He is very nice and accessible outside of class.
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Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Took this for my physical science credit. I liked Professor Ferrier a lot and really enjoyed his lecture, and my TA was amazing/gave helpful hints for lab. The quizzes are a sizable portion of your grade, though, and never seemed to be super related to what was emphasized in lecture/were very strangely worded. The video project was a blast, though!
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Quality 3/5Difficulty 3/5
Good lecturer and I personally really enjoyed lectures, but weekly quizzes seemed to be only tangentially related and unnecessarily complicated. However, weekly "labs" - discussion sections- were mostly decent. Content was extremely interesting and a good intro to geoscience, and despite the frustrating quizzes, it's not a hard course overall.
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Quality 5/5Difficulty 3/5
Good class to take to fulfill physical sci credit. Ken is super lovely and really cares about his work. Weekly quizzes are tough and don't always align with lecture material, labs aren't too bad and aren't graded super harshly. Optional exam at end of sem which is nice. Lectures can feel long but content is super interesting, his voice is golden.
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Personal experiences, not a representative survey. Profile matching and captured coverage are shown in the source details.

Classes with Ken Ferrier

ENVIRONMENTAL GEOLOGY applies geology to problems from intense use of the earth and its resources.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Ken Ferrier makes geoscience material interesting and digestible, though some find lectures unnecessary or boring; he listens to feedback and cares about student learning.

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2026

GEOSCI 691 is a mentored individual research course for students completing a senior thesis.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

GEOSCI 699 is a directed study course allowing students to conduct independent research or study arranged with a faculty member.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

historical GPA · grades

Spring 2022–Spring 2022 · limited sample

Quantitative Geomorphology studies Earth's surface processes through theory and field observations of hillslopes, rivers, and glaciers.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

Recent recorded grades — Fall 2022: 3.25 GPA, 33.3% A/AB (n=6 letter grades).

historical GPA · grades

Fall 2022–Fall 2022 · limited sample
GEOSCI 990

Research

1–12 credits

GEOSCI 990 is a research course where students conduct supervised independent study projects.

Offering recorded · Fall 2026

No recorded grade history

Recorded teaching history

Explore courses taught by this instructor →
Browse recorded courses
TermCourseTitle
Fall 2026ENVIRST/GEOSCI 106Environmental Geology
Fall 2026GEOSCI 681Senior Honors Thesis
Fall 2026GEOSCI 691Senior Thesis
Fall 2026GEOSCI 699Directed Study
Fall 2026GEOSCI 701Quantitative Geomorphology
Fall 2026GEOSCI 990Research

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

Instructor identity & provenance
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