Meet our Fall 2024 Faculty Spotlight

Dr. Madhu Srinivasan Senior Lecturer

1. Tell us a little about yourself.
   1. How long have you been with the department? I came to UK in 2003 as a graduate student to earn a PhD in this department. I joined the department as a faculty member in 2018. I was an instructional staff between 2011 and 2018. 
   2. What motivated you to come to our department? I came to UK as a graduate student to work with Dr. Scott Gleeson who was excited about collaborating with me on an ecosystem conservation project in South India. I then stayed on because I liked Lexington, and a job opportunity opened up here.
   3. Where did you live before starting at UK? I lived in Bangalore, India before coming to UK. 
       
2. Describe your time with the department so far.
   1. What are you most proud or excited about? I am most proud of my doctoral research work. I conducted some foundational research in conservation ecology in a remote, unique, and understudied ecosystem which laid the groundwork for a lot of other young researchers. 
   2. What draws you to your work? I enjoy teaching a large number of students and influencing their worldview about ecology, the value of biodiversity, global change, and sustainability.
   3. What is your favorite part of your job? One of the most favorite parts of my job is weaving anything I find in the news—usually science podcasts—into the lesson and showing students how what we learn in class is relevant to the world. 
   4. What is the most challenging part of your job? The most challenging part of this job is enforcing course policies in a fair and consistent manner, considering the unique and desperate situations that students might find themselves in and the large student population I teach. 
       
3. What’s your favorite course to teach and why? My favorite course is BIO 155, which is a lab course in biological research skills. I made a lot of innovations in this course and developed lesson plans to strengthen students’ foundations in experimental methods, analysis, and communication.
    
4. What is something that you wish others (students, colleagues) knew about what you do? I wish others knew the countless hours of effort that go into this job. Addressing student needs that have increased significantly in recent years, and managing a large team of graduate teaching assistants and making sure everyone has the support they need to do their job effectively. 
    
5. If you could share one piece of advice with students, what would it be? No matter how daunting a task may seem, as long as you start it early enough and work step by step in a systematic and careful manner, you will complete it successfully. 
    
6. How do you spend your free time? I spend my free time on home improvement projects around the house.
    
7. If you weren’t a biologist, what would you be doing? I would be raising funds to solve ecological problems around the world, through conservation efforts and education. 
    
8. If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be? If I could eat only one food for the rest of my life it would be what we call “curd rice” in south India, which is simply plain yogurt mixed with white rice and seasoned with various spices and fruits and nuts.
    
9. If you could meet one famous person, dead or alive, who would it be and why? I would like to have met Subramania Bharathi. He was a south Indian social reformer and freedom fighter known for his activism against the British rule in India. He was writer and poet, and some of his songs still have appeal today among south Indians. It would be an honor to have a conversation with someone with such strong ideals about the state of the world.