RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The fiancé of an NC State science professor who was hit and killed near campus is on a mission to keep her life's work going.

"We always joked that she loved her science more than she loved me," Trevor Huffman said, remembering 41-year-old Dr. Natalia Duque-Wilckins. "She's just the most passionate scientist, curious, collaborating with all departments, universities from Duke to North Carolina, neuroscience, toxicology, immunology."

She proposed to me. This just shows you how brave this woman is. ... she's a go-getter, she's a finisher. - Trevor Huffman

Duque-Wilckins was known as a rising star in her field -- unwaveringly dedicated to science, to rescuing animals, and to the man she planned to marry in Chile this January.

Courtesy of Trevor Huffman

"She

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