WILTON SIMPSON CITRUS CAMPUS BIODIVERSITY TRAIL
What is the Citrus Campus Biodiversity Trail
BioDiT Citrus is a STEAM educational experience -- science, technology, engineering, ART, and mathematics! Blending photography, videography, and music with biology, this walking tour of the College of Central Florida's Wilton Simpson Citrus Campus shares with visitors the biodiversity of Citrus County, basic principles in ecology, and the relationship of both with our local economy. Physical exhibits are linked to companion digital exhibits by QR codes, giving visitors the opportunity to learn in lots of different and fun ways.
What kinds of physical exhibits are there?
BioDiT Citrus is composed of three types of physical exhibits.
- Bulletin boards containing posters, artwork, photographs, and 3-D displays.
- Pedestal displays containing photographs and 3-D artistic displays.
- Signs around the campus grounds with QR codes.
Every exhibit can be recognized by the sandhill crane, BioDiT Citrus logo.
What kind of digital exhibits are there?
Each digital exhibit is designed to complement its companion physical exhibit. Materials in the digital exhibits include...
- Instructional videos and animations.
- Video montages of biodiversity set to the music of Darlingside.
- Additional photographs and artwork and biodiversity.
- Audio files illustrating biodiversity.
Each digital exhibit also includes a map of your physical location and directions to the next physical exhibit.
Where do the displays come from?
All of the photographs, artwork, and other materials on display are donated to the project by CF Citrus Campus students, faculty, staff, and members of the Citrus County community. Many of the posters were designed by students in BSC 2011L (Integrated Principles of Biology II Lab). The trail and its content are managed and edited by Steve C. Schenk, Associate Professor of Biology.
Can I contribute to the project?
Heck yeah! If you have photographs or artwork that you'd like to contribute for inclusion in the Citrus Campus Biodiversity Trail, contact Prof. S at either schenks@cf.edu or biodit@cf.edu.
Steve C. Schenk
About Prof. S
Steve C. Schenk, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences
Steve Schenk (aka Prof. S) is the creator, editor, and general manager of the Citrus Campus Biodiversity Trail. He was awarded the Dorothea G. Jerome Endowed Chair (Any Discipline) for 2024 - 2026 by the CF Foundation, which provided the funding for the construction and implementation of the Trail.
Prof. S has degrees in biology from Duke University (B.Sc.) and The Florida State University (M.Sc.). His professional career in research and education began in 1990, and he's bee teaching college-level biology courses since 1996.
As a high school student, he spent two years doing molecular genetics research with Dr. Richard Laddaga, then at Bowling Green State University. As an undergraduate, he spent two summers working in an organic chemistry lab at an oil refinery, helped to develop a specimen database for a limnology laboratory, and in the lab of Dr. Dan Rittschof at the Duke University Marine Laboratory, tested antifouling paints for 3M and helped design and build equipment that was used in an experiment conducted with the Alvin deep sea submersible. (Sadly, he did not get to participate in the Alvin part of that experiment...)
His graduate research on the ecology and evolution of crab claws was conducted in the lab of Dr. Peter Wainwright, then at FSU. While a graduate student, he taught a variety of classes, including comparative vertebrate anatomy, invertebrate zoology, field marine ecology, and animal diversity, and worked extensively with FSU's Saturday-at-the-Sea Program.
From 2001 until 2006 he was a member of the faculty at Darton College in Albany, GA, and from 2006 - 2012 he was a member of the faculty at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, NV. He's been a faculty member at the CF Citrus Campus since 2012 where he teaches lab and lecture courses in human anatomy and physiology and integrated principles of biology.
With a background that also includes training in the visual arts and expository writing, STEAM education is definitely where Prof. S's heart is. As he is also an amateur nature photographer, amateur musician, and amateur videographer, the Citrus Campus Biodiversity Trail is a natural extension of his three decades in and around higher education.