Prestigious Wilson Award goes to Evergreen zoologist, well known ant expert

STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- The American Society of Naturalists awarded Evergreen State College faculty member John Longino their highly prestigious E.O. Wilson Naturalist Award. The award recognizes individuals whose research and writing on a particular group of organisms also illuminates principles of evolutionary biology and an enhanced appreciation of natural history.

Longino was awarded a plaque and a $2000 honorarium at the society’s annual meeting. The American Society of Naturalists was established in 1883 and publishes the scientific journal The American Naturalist. Dedicated to the conceptual unification of the biological sciences, it is one of the most highly regarded scientific societies in the world.

Longino began teaching at Evergreen in 1991, and holds a B.S. from Duke Univ. and a Ph.d. in zoology from the Univ. of Texas, Austin. He specializes and is widely known in the field of Myrmecology, the scientific study of ants. Longino’s academic areas at Evergreen are ecology, entomology and evolution. He regularly teaches programs in Tropical Biology, taking students to Costa Rica to experience tropical rainforests first-hand. He blends teaching and research, often involving students in his research on tropical entomology.

The award was established the year professor E.O. Wilson, widely considered one of the world’s greatest scientists, retired from Harvard University. A two-time Pulitzer prize author and recipient of the National Medal of Science, Wilson has written more than 20 books and discovered many new species. Longino himself has discovered over 45 new species of ants.

On the web: www.evergreen.edu/ants