Avi Subramanian joined us as a WISCIENCE Peer Leader in spring 2025. Peer Leaders are undergraduate students who support their peers in WISCIENCE programs and courses while learning valuable leadership skills. Find out more about Avi!
Pronouns: He/him
Major: Molecular and Cell Biology
Peer Leader for: Transfer STEM Immersion
Hometown: San Jose and Milpitas, CA
If you could choose anyone for a mentor, who would it be?
Marco Pierre White
What is your favorite place on campus?
College Library and the Lakeshore Nature Preserve!
What extracurricular activities are you involved in?
I work as an undergraduate research assistant with Dr. Mike Rourke and Prof. Andrew Buller in the Department of Chemistry. Outside of the classroom alongside my role as a Peer Leader, I am a discussion teaching assistant for BIOCHEM 501 (Intro to Biochem). I am also a member of the competitive vocal group Wisconsin Waale!
What do you like most about Madison?
Speaking from my experience as a native Bay Area Californian, I’ve enjoyed the cooler temperatures and the winter weather throughout January and February! The most exciting aspect of Madison is how dynamic everything feels! I always experience and learn something fresh on a weekly or even daily basis.
If you could be any animal, what would you be and why?
I tend to be a very animated and colorful person, be it through my personality or my sense of fashion, so I would love to be a scarlet macaw. 🙂
What is an academic accomplishment that you are proud of?
Having previously taken a gap year before I began my time in Wisconsin, I am very proud of myself for hitting the ground running and searching for opportunities to become involved with both STEM and the humanities at UW-Madison, as well as stepping up to meet the workload demands of my major courses over the last one and a half semesters!
What are you looking forward to about being a peer leader this semester?
I’m looking forward to expanding my skills in scientific communication and planning beyond the lab and classroom, as well as meeting fellow STEM students across the multitude of programs at UW-Madison through my fellow peer leaders, group mentees, and all who attend our events and workshops!
What sparked your interest in STEM?
That foundation, my spark to pursue studies in molecular biology emerged through taking AP Biology during my senior year of high school from 2020 to 2021. I fell in love with the pattern recognition-based style of learning that integrated knowledge from chemistry and physics in topics such as cell structure/function and evolution. Additionally, my introductory biology classes from my previous university exposed me to the systemic perspective that shows how the molecular perspective shapes the organismal and even ecological shape of the world!
What is your vision for life after graduation?
Once I graduate from UW-Madison, I hope to attend graduate school in California to study biochemistry or chemical biology, followed by a research career working in the chemistry side of the biotechnology industry!
Meet the rest of the WISCIENCE Peer Leaders.
Learn more about the WISCIENCE Peer Leader program.