Jerry Mcmanus

At many points in the semester, I felt as though the grading team was taking points just for the sake of it, perhaps to maintain the “rigorous” reputation of the course. For example, marking points off because I forgot to mention that the lab data will come from the Mauna Loa Observatory in the Introduction section. I stated this just three sentences later, but in the Methods section, and was marked wrong. Clearly I know where the lab data is sourced. This was one of several instances where I lost points for not including a statement which was actually written elsewhere in the lab report. The almost bureaucratic nature of the grading team allowed for very little holistic evaluation. The grading at many points felt not at all reflective of my knowledge of climate science, but of my ability to cough up a lab report adhering to the regimented requirements. Perhaps this is normal across the science courses at Columbia, but feels like a general failure and a missed opportunity for actually evaluating the understanding of content. You have to constantly push back if you wish to be graded fairly.

JERRY IS THE SWEETEST MAN. Genuinely the best and cares for his students, beings snacks for every seminar. While FroSci can be a pedantic course at times, Jerry does his best to be engaging and his seminar usually scores very high on the midterm and final. He expects you to do all the work, but grades very leniently (even on the exams). His class is definitely an easy A and moreso an absolute joy.

I took this class first semester of my freshman year and it changed the way I think about the earth. We learned about how and why our weather patterns exist, why there are deserts where they are, and how the ocean is acidifying due to global climate change. No prior knowledge is assumed. Only algebra is required. Professor Shaw teaches the first half of the semester, and she is fantastic. Her lecture style is geared so we really understand the material, and she reviews key concepts from the last lecture at the beginning of the next day so you know what to study. Professor McManus is even better, though! He's a super sweet guy who just really loves talking about the oceans, and his office hours are very relaxed. They both really want you to succeed. The lab portion is well integrated and actually illustrates concepts from class. 10/10 would recommend.

Jerry is a great professor. He is very willing to meet with you outside of class time and help you out in whatever way that he can. This class can be pretty difficult, but if you reach out to him Jerry will meet you where you are at in order to help you do the best you can. He really wants everyone to learn and do well in his class. If you need help, ask for it! He is a very sweet man.

McManus is such a caring gentle soul. HE is easily one of my favorite professors here at Columbia. He is witty, funny, and FAIR. He would crack jokes with the students and effectively build off of whatever we were discussing in or use that to bounce into another topic. This was such a light-hearted classroom environment that was the right amount of rigor and fun. If you care about learning the material and good vibes over anything else, definitely recommend him.

I liked how engaging jerry was during his lectures, and he was much better at explaining concepts that professor camargo was. he's a lot more willing to work with students and is open to giving extensions to those who need it.

He was the BEST Frontiers of Science professor I could possibly have gotten. He is a modest and sweet guy with a genuine care for all of his students. He gives weekly quizzes and thoroughly goes over the WIAs so that all of his students understand exactly what's going on. Furthermore, he gives us snacks weekly! he really does everything in his power to make sure Frontiers is not the boring and pointless class that everyone dreads going to. I genuinely enjoyed going to his class, due to his lighthearted teaching style and pleasant class environment. Also, our class had a very high average on the midterm (second highest out of all the sections). He is an easy but very fair grader, and even if science isn't your forte, you can do well in his class. LOVE THIS MAN.

This class is amazing. It's a lot of work and takes up a ton of time but McManus and Shaw are both the kindest and most caring professors I have ever had. The two are willing to meet with any student at any time, which is hard for them because they split their time between Morningside and Lamont. I don't consider myself a science person and at times the material got a bit tricky, but McManus and Shaw are always willing to explain something over and over again. Overall though the material isn't too bad and the professors are amazing. The labs take up a lot of time, but overall the TAs are fair and are also always willing to explain the material or why they took off points somewhere GO TO OFFICE HOURS. Can't stress that enough. Don't take this class if you don't have time to devote to office hours and asking questions outside of class.

He was absolutely wonderful. Genuinely a nice man who wants his students to understand as much of the material as possible. Discussions were boring, but that is to be expected in frontiers. He will help you out as much as he can, offering office hours and a review for the final. He was lenient with grading and gave students as much credit as was merited. He was enthusiastic and encouraging. I got really lucky with him, considering how many horror stories I've heard about other sections. If you do the WIAs, skim the readings/lectures, and go to class, you should be fine. I never went to lecture and managed to do well on the homework, quizzes, and midterm. Take him if you can, you won't regret it and this class won't be too much of a downer.

Jerry McManus is seriously the nicest professor I have ever encountered here at Columbia. He is so willing to help his students and genuinely wants to see them all do well. He teaches the second portion of the Climate class (the first professor is great too). He sometimes is a bit sidetracked/hard to follow, but if you ask him questions, he is great with clarification. Also go to his office hours! He will sit with you through every single question you have and make sure you're understanding everything. He is very understand and overall a great teacher. Climate overall can be a difficult class because it requires a good amount of memorization, but if you attend lecture, it's relatively simple to follow.