"I remember being surprised how genuinely, truly fascinated he was in ants," Jasienski said.
"I expected with this kind of celebrity status that he would be some kind of big-time operator," he said.
Fortunately for undergraduates, Wilson's departure will not eliminate evolutionary biology from the Core-Curriculum's Science course offernings.
"I can't promise you that there won't be an off year, but there is a strong department commitment to offer a course of comparable content and quality," Knoll said.
"I have received specific interest from our finest faculty members [to teach a similar course]," he said.
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Wilson himself could not be reached for comment last night.