TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Renowned biologist and Alabama native Edward O. Wilson announced Monday he would donate all 246 of the international awards, prizes and tributes he has received throughout his career to the University of Alabama.

The awards, which are valued at nearly $400,000, include two Pulitzer Prizes, the U.S. National Medal of Science and the Crafoord Prize, the scientific equivalent to the Nobel Peace prize.

Wilson has also given $100,000 to the Edward O. Wilson Biodiversity Fellows Endowment within the College of Arts and Sciences to provide student support in fields of museum and field biodiversity research.

Wilson is recognized as the world's leading ant expert -- he won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Non-Fiction for his academic reference book "The Ants", and later authored a novel, titled "Anthill", exploring a civil war between ant colonies in Alabama that won the Heartland Prize for fiction.

He is also an expert in the fields of biodiversity and evolution, and is founder of the theory of sociobiology, "which proposes that human and animal behavior is shaped by evolutionary forces," according to a UA release.

He won a second Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction with his 1978 book, "On Human Nature", which explores sociobiology and what human characteristics were shaped by evolution rather than cultural influences.

Born in Birmingham and raised in Mobile, Wilson's interest in the natural world was piqued as he explored Alabama flora and fauna in the Mobile-Tensaw Delta as a boy.

“I didn’t really understand what a treasure the Delta was as a child. I loved it, and being out in it, but I had no idea that I was in one of the most diverse spots I would ever visit,” Wilson told The Mobile Press-Register in 2011. “I’ve been all over the world, and the most wondrous place was right here in Alabama all along.”

Wilson earned his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in biology from UA in 1949 and 1950 before going on to obtain his doctorate at Harvard University, where he worked as a professor and researcher for more than four decades.

Now a Professor Emeritus at Harvard, Wilson leads his eponymous Biodiversity Foundation, promoting research "to protect key species and avoid unintended destruction of the ecosystems that sustain our lives," according to its website.

"Edward O. Wilson's contributions to both science and letters are beyond compare in our time," said Robert Olin, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, in the release. "He is respected throughout the world not just for advancing knowledge but also for his beautifully articulated and insightful perspectives on what it means to be human and the responsibility we have as stewards of the earth."

Wilson's donations Monday kicked off UA's Edward O. Wilson week at UA, which will include presentations by scientists and authors at the forefront of biodiversity research and UA graduate students.