Overview
The Jean Klein Rock Cycle Garden is a one of a kind outdoor exhibit on the Northwest Campus of Santa Fe College in Gainesville, Florida. It features over twenty boulders, many weighing thousands of kilograms. These boulders were collected from different localities across the U.S.A.
Construction on this exhibit began in 2003. It opened to the public in June 2006. Rocks are displayed in an orderly sequence beginning with Igneous, followed by Sedimentary and continuing with Metamorphic, finally bringing you back to the starting point. There is an informational panel at the beginning of the exhibit explaining the rock cycle and why the rocks are placed in the order in which they occur.
The SF Jean Klein Rock Cycle Garden is dedicated to the memory of Jean Klein, a professor at SF in the Physical Science and Geology department for thirty-five years until his death in 2003. Jean came to the U.S. from Alsace Lorraine, France as a young man just out of high school. He became interested in geology while serving in the U.S. Army in Alaska. Jean was chair of the Natural Sciences Department at SF for 13 years. He was respected and admired by faculty and staff and inspirational to his students. He will always be remembered as a scholar, teacher and friend.