GEOL-520 Kinematic Modeling

“All the assignments were well-guided and all the steps were explained/demonstrated. I like having open discussions about the papers and topics we covered each week.”

“I thought this class was very useful. It was a great introduction to several programs that will be used in my research.”

“Summarizing papers has increased my speed when evaluating papers”

“The reading material and modeling activities were very much in-sync with each other. An example…..history of the Rio Grande Rift, that was supplemented by computer modeling exercises. We used Move to model rifting and other structural deformation that was applicable to the reading…”


GEOL-111G Survey of Geology

“I like how I learned how Earth changed over time and how land is formed…”

“The lectures were the most beneficial. They were easy to understand with the help of pictures and examples….The (quiz) questions at the end helped me remember what I learned…”

“Having the in-class quizzes actually made me focus and were very beneficial to my grade”

“Professor had good notes that were easy to follow”

“The slides were actually engaging and helpful. It was easy to follow along without feeling bored or getting lost…..”

“I really liked how structured it was and how the due dates were always consistent”

“This course wasn't even on my degree plan; I just took it because my schedule got messed up I needed to reach my credit requirement but it turned out to be my favorite class I've taken.”

“Honestly, the way he teaching us is actually amazing! His lecture is so fun. He just wants us to learn. He always open for questions, discussion or comments..”

“My professor was very welcoming and kind.”

“I like how the professor provided the PowerPoints from out lecture on Canvas.”

“Class quizzes after each lecture helped me understand the whole topic better.”

“Really liked the dynamic of in-class participation”

“This course is the one I was most engaged in throughout the semester”


GEOL-444/544 Arc-GIS for Geology

“The tutorial videos were very beneficial…..and being able to ask about problems the next lecture….”

“I found that Dr. Lutz taught us foundational techniques on how to create a variety of maps in GIS”

“I liked that I was able to get a student version of ArcMap on my personal laptop. It was cool to have the option to mess around with tools, etc. on my own time”

“I really liked the recorded lectures. These were very helpful with the assignments and it was easy to go back and forth and figure out where a tools is at or how to do a certain analysis"

“The course was great. Dr. Lutz danced the line between challenging the students who are brand new to the program and teaching new skills and honing the old ones for graduate students already familiar with the software”

“I am thankful this was more of a laid back kind of class….The assignments did require a lot of time and problem-solving, but I really enjoyed taking this class”


“I really appreciate all the feedback and recommendations for revising my term paper! It was really helpful to have an outside perspective on the research needed for my thesis project”

“I have over 200 credits and have had a lot of professors, (Dr. Lutz) really get (s) the point across. I learned a lot this semester”

“I really enjoyed seeing all the final presentations on term paper topics. I also liked that the assignments were refreshers on material learned in previous classes (seismic interpretation, geochemistry, finding the Moho)”

“The powerpoint presentations have good visuals and the professor made it interactive”

“I appreciate how he incorporated many disciplines of geology and tied them together to create an assignment. Assignments involved a little bit of everything: geochemistry, structural geology, etc.”

“The reading guides were very beneficial. Guided reading helped me understand what points were important beforehand and somehow they absorbed better. (Written) reading responses were also beneficial……Dr. Lutz emphasized over and over to not read these papers like novels but to jsut get the main points…..Scrutinizing the material for main points then having questions seamlessly answered during the lecture was greats”

“…..Now I can glean important information from a paper from reading the abstract, introduction, and conclusions and studying the figures. This has made researching…..much easier and time efficient and I know this skill will benefit me far beyond my academic career”

“Discussing the reading assignments and reading guides after they were turned in was helpful to me and it allowed me to take notes on what I needed more clarification and improvement on”

“This class was well adapted and prepared for these restrictions”

“I would love to take Brandon’s class in person if it was an option”

GEOL-491 Tectonic Evolution of North America