Class record · MCBI · MCBC

MCBI 2120

Ecology & Sustainability of Our Living Planet · 1 instructor on record · 4 sections

What the course score is made of

79BC evaluations4 records · weight ×1.0 · Fall 2025 – Spring 2026

—Student reviewsno reviews — does not contribute

—RateMyProfessorsno ratings — does not contribute

That is the class itself, averaged across everyone who taught it. Who taught it, and how each of them scored, is the board below — that is what a student picking a section is actually choosing between.

What the challenge rank is made of

6thMore challenging than 6% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

79BC — “Intellectually Challenging”4 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College's own “intellectually challenging” question for this class only — students answer it positively about courses that stretched them, so it measures intellectual challenge and NOT grading, workload or quality. Almost every BC class scores high on it, which is why it is shown as a rank rather than a score.

What the workload rank is made of

29thMore work than 29% of BC classesranked against every one we hold

45BC — “Workload”4 records · raw score out of 100

Boston College reports workload for this class only as one of five bands, not as a number of hours, and it does not publish what the bands mean — so this site will not translate it into hours. Higher means more work, which is not the same as worse.

Human populations have become such dominant drivers of environmental change on the planet that geologists have termed this geologic period, the Anthropocene- the epoch of humans. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) convened by the United Nations, widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred with worldwide adverse impacts and related losses and damages to nature and people. Furthermore, IPCC reports make it clear that the choices we will make as a society over the next several decades will have profound impacts on the future of earths climate and life-sustaining services. As the branch of science concerned with the interactions and interdependencies between organisms and their environment, ecology has much to offer by way of solutions for achieving a sustainable and resilient society. Students will learn ecological concepts that explain the structure and development of ecosystems and the drivers of global environmental changes. We will investigate ecological interactions across all relevant scales from interactions among individuals within a population and community, all the way to those that shape entire ecosystems. We will explore the diversity of biological species, species interactions, community level dynamics, global nutrient cycling, and landscape ecology. Woven throughout the course will be unveiling patterns of environmental injustice, the unequal distribution of environmental harms and benefits. We will then investigate how ecological ideas can be applied to solve the human problems of climate change, species extinction, environmental pollution, food insecurity, environmental injustice, and social conflict. The laboratory component of the course will build students skills in ecological observation, experimental design, data collection and analysis, and evidence-based communication.

The only instructor on record

4 sections · nobody else has taught itFull record

Instructor	Overall	Workload	Challenge
Brendan CarsonAssistant Professor of the Practice · Biology	894 records	29th	6th

There is no ranking to read here: Brendan Carson is the only instructor with evaluation records for MCBI 2120, so the number is a record, not a position.

Also taught by Brendan Carson

1 other class

Class	Instructors	Course score
MCBI 2130Ecology & Sustainability of Our Living Planet - lab	14 records	84

Other MCBI classes

All of them

Class	Instructors	Course score
MCBI 1100General Biology	37 records	87
MCBI 1310Anatomy and Physiology Lab 1	14 records	89
MCBI 1330Anatomy and Physiology Lab II	14 records	85
MCBI 2130Ecology & Sustainability of Our Living Planet - lab	14 records	84
MCBI 1300Anatomy and Physiology 1	12 records	85
MCBI 1320Anatomy and Physiology II	12 records	88

The line

All 13 items · means across 4 records

The Professor4 items

Clearly Explains MaterialThe instructor was effective at creating an understanding of difficult subject matter.

9239th pctl

Available Outside of ClassThe instructor was available for help outside of class.

9347th pctl

Brings Out Your Best WorkThe instructor motivated me to do my best work.

8928th pctl

Sparked My InterestThe course stimulated my interest in the subject matter.

9448th pctl

The Course3 items

Well-Organized CourseThe course was well organized.

8730th pctl

Clear Learning GoalsThe learning objectives for the course were clear.

8724th pctl

Useful Beyond the CourseWhat I learned is applicable beyond this course.

8615th pctl

Assignments & Feedback3 items

Assignments Help You LearnAssignments and exams contributed to my learning.

8623rd pctl

Gives Feedback PromptlyI received feedback on my work in a timely manner.

9253rd pctl

Meaningful FeedbackThe feedback I received on my work was meaningful.

9148th pctl

Workload, difficulty & attendanceNot ratings

WorkloadHow much work the course took outside class, on Boston College's five-band scale — the band boundaries are not published, so this is not a number of hours.

4529th pctl

Intellectually ChallengingThe course was intellectually challenging.

796th pctl

Attendance MattersAttending class was necessary to do well in this course.

8937th pctl

Bar length is the rank against every comparable record we hold, not the raw score: BC's questions all have a median around 4.5, so a raw-scale bar would be nearly full on every row and would tell you nothing. Every bar is one ink colour — nothing here is graded green or red. The hatched bars are not ratings at all: a higher number on either describes a different course, not a better one.

Game log

4 sections · newest first

Instructor	Term	Sec	Instr	Course	Work
Brendan Carson	Spring 2026	01	90	86	40
Brendan Carson	Spring 2026	02	98	90	40
Brendan Carson	Fall 2025	01	84	71	60
Brendan Carson	Fall 2025	02	83	70	40

How to read this boardInstructors are ranked on their record in this class only, never on their average across everything they teach. Scores are out of 100 — Boston College's 1–5 agreement scale, ×20, the way these numbers were printed for years. Workload is BC's own five-band figure, not a number of hours, and is shown as a rank. A dash means the question was not reported, and is never a zero.