Malama, Bwalya  

Soil science is difficult, and there were a few times that I felt that Malama could have explained concepts a bit more clearly (mainly the equations involved in calculations), but Malama is honestly such an awesome guy. He has a very sharp wit and subtle humor, which is easy to miss unless you're paying attention, but he would make the whole class laugh at least once a day. He's also very passionate about soil science, and showed us a lot of really cool outside resources we could look into for fun that weren't required for the class. The class was 3 hours twice a week, 1.5 hours lecture, 1.5 hours lab, but Malama made it better by taking advantage of our brain fried states (in the best way possible) with his sense of humor. My favorite lab was the very last one, where we went out in the field to collect samples, and he turned a blind eye to the occasional kale-theft from the organic farm. Soil science is definitely not an easy class, nor should it be expected to be, but I would absolutely recommend Malama. He's genuinely kind and very entertaining!

Malama is a great guy, he works hard, and you definitely learn a lot. But he also pulls some things out of thin air, and the tests can be pretty tricky. I would suggest taking him, just know this won't be necessarily easy.

I took ERSC 144, not ENVE (ERSC wasn't an option to designate when writing this review for some reason). Professor Malama is amazing! I came to Cal Poly as an Earth Science major, but I was seriously considering switching. After taking this class, however, I decided to stay in the major. It was incredibly interesting, but I feel like if I would have had a bad professor, my experience with the material would have been lacking. Malama is a great guy, subtly funny without really realizing it, which makes him super endearing and classes enjoyable. Class attendance isn't mandatory, but I suggest going to all the activity periods, as this is where you'll receive your homework. Attend as many lectures as you can, because his exams are literally straight from notes you'll take in class. Malama is also very aware of whether or not his students understand what he's saying, and starts every lecture class with questions people have.

Malama is an amazing professor! He clearly explains everything, allows students to ask questions before every class, and genuinely tries to get to know all of his students. He truly cares about his students! Although his tests can be hard, if you study the notes really well you should be fine.

Dr. Malama is the best professor I've had the privilege of being in a classroom with. He is very clear in his explanation and sets his students up for successes. I cannot believed the amount of information he throughly taught us in only 10 weeks. Not only is a he a phenomenal professor, he genuinely cares about all his students. For lack of better, word Dr. Malama is a homie and 10/10 would take again.

ERSC 144 (NOT ENVE- there was no ersc option). He is amazing person. Lectures are pretty straight forward and if you are confused he takes questions and answers them in depth to make sure you get it. He really cares about his students and sometimes cracks himself up which makes class really enjoyable. He is always available during office hours if you need any clarification. There are 2 midterms and a final. All the material comes straight from the study guide. Not to hard. Weekly quizzes that are straight from the notes. Great guy and great class.

I had Dr. Malama his first quarter teaching. At first he seemed a bit disorganized but then got the hang of it. I though his lectures were straight forward and easy to understand. He was very approachable if you had questions about anything. His midterms and finals were fair. He would tell you everything that is going to be on them and they were half free response and multiple choice. Overall I liked him a lot and would take another class of his! Super nice guy!

If you ever have the chance to take Malama--DO IT. He's not only a really understanding a thoroughly interested teacher but is hilarious and kind. He's new to Cal Poly and is very willing to work with students to give them what they need. If there was ever any confusion he was quick to clarify and explain things in a different way. He even created a polylearn for the class at the student's request. He's got a great sense of humor and is incredibly intelligent in his field, and if there's something he doesn't know everything about, he'll research it and have it ready for the class the next lecture. Lot's of love for malamama, can't wait to take him again.

Friendly, teaches directly from the book and to the two tests. Activities were boring in the first half of the class, but we were outside doing SCIENCE! for the latter half of the quarter. He, or whoever grades the weekly homework (which is easy) takes off points randomly and I still do not know why some answers were marked wrong. Learned alot, but mostly info from the textbook.

Malama is the sweetest professor, he is very knowledgeable about the material even though this is an intro class and is clearly enthusiastic. His tests go more in depth than expected and require studying but overall the class is not too difficult and the lectures are always engaging and make it worth going to class

Malama is hands down the best professor I have ever had. He is so wonderful at what he does and he'll make you laugh. Anyone is lucky to enroll in his class.

Malama is overall a pretty good teacher, like any other he has his pros and cons. First of all he does a good job of going over material clearly and during labs takes extra time to clarify procedures and any other questions. He's also extremely helpful during his office hours, so I highly recommend going if you're confused. He had quizzes every friday and if you pay attention and do the hw you should do alright (I didn't study for these quizzes and got a B average but attended lectures and did the hw). He has one (or two?) midterms and a final. The homework is usually not tough at all, very straightforward and from class and labs. The lab work is done in lab and if you don't finish, he lets you take it home and gives you a timeline to finish it by. The MASSIVE con of this class were his tests. It's not necessarily really tough, but a lot of work in a small window of time. One midterm had 40-50 multiple choice and a good sized free response section to complete in 50 minutes. This was really tough to finish, so make sure to know your stuff so you don't waste time.

ERSC 144 - Malama is such a cool guy and he makes his class fun. He has a really cute and funny sense of humor and he's very passionate about the class so it makes the lectures pretty quick and entertaining. There's a quiz every Friday and 2 midterms and a final. The exams were pretty much the same as the quizzes and homeworks, which comes straight from his lectures. There were a few homework assignments from the textbook but they were never collected, and I rarely used the textbook to actually review, so that was kinda a waste. He covers A LOT of information in the lectures so you have to attend and study the info for the quizzes pretty thoroughly. He really got everyone pumped on earth science and all the info was pretty interesting. I thought the activities were kinda pointless but a lot of them were outdoors so that was actually fun. The activities in the computer lab using Google Earth were very boring and dragged on and on. The only thing that really frustrated me about the class was the pure memorization and the terrible graders. If you think somethings wrong, definitely ask him because I got so many points taken off on quizzes that were clearly correct and he was nice about fixing those grades, but it got frustrating when every quiz you had to ask him for points back. I figured I was just wrong on the first few quizzes, but then I realized that the graders were just trash and so definitely look over your quizzes and don't be afraid to ask him. Overall though, I would definitely recommend Malama cuz he's very knowledgeable, interesting, and just an amazing professor.

Malama is a king. He has the best drip and he always comes in FRESH. He teaches very well even though sometimes he doesn’t really know what’s going on. But he knows what needs to get done. Literal king. Best professor. Love him

This man is an angel. He is extremely humble (something many other professors could take notes on). You know what kind of day it will be based on his outfit. If he comes in without the little hat, something crazy is in store (like cancellation of a quiz). This man is a blessing to the department. The class ended up being my favorite in the end. He has a unique sense of humor. He brightens every single Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I love you malama

I cannot express to you enough to take this class, or any class with Malama. You may think this is a joke, but I am being serious when I say he is a king and needs to be protected at all costs. This class was enjoyable for me, because he always has good jokes and everything is so straight forward. If he writes it on the board then you know that it will be on the weekly friday quizzes. Each lecture he walks in looking like a different person which is the best part. I will miss watching him aggressively erase the whiteboard. Please enjoy each minute you spend in his presence, because I promise you will end up missing him at the end of the quarter!

This is ERSC 144, not FNR 144: Malama was great. He's a groundwater geophysicist who has worked in the nuclear energy and mining industries. If you're not sure if you like him at first because of his accent, just keep going, you'll probably end up liking him and his teaching style. I'm still not sure about my major, but he definitely got me pumped on earth science. and his class was pretty easy (it was an intro class). -TEST/HOMEWORK: The homework was a very important part of the class and many of the test questions came DIRECTLY from the homework questions. -He likes to involve math in homework in tests and hw. There's some problems involving trig and unit conversions, but that's about as hard as it gets.

Malama is a great guy and he's pretty knowledgeable, but he's very unorganized. He forgets to mention things in class, like whether we have homework due or a quiz next class period. He would email us last minute about class details, and even changed the time of the final the morning of. His tests can be tricky just because of his wording, not necessarily because of the material, so as long as you ask clarification questions during the exam whenever you're confused it's not too bad. Overall the workload wasn't bad at all and the material was pretty interesting. It was just hard for me to work with such an unorganized guy.

During this entire quarter all I could think about was how this professor reminded me of that small little dog that runs through the back of scene 23 in The Incredibles by Pixar. Seriously, if you look it up you will only be able to see it...