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Dr. Melanie Renfrew's Gallery

Vegetation Adaptations, Biome types

May 14, 2012

Photos: 31

The 'Vegetation Gradient' - 'Hard' and 'Soft' Chaparral in the SMM's

Mediterranean vegetation communities are a response to our dry-summer subtropical climate, where plants must adapt by avoiding drought and conserving moisture. "Soft" chaparral is the "coastal sage scrub" ecosystem on drier, S- and W-facing slopes, and (hard) chaparral is thicker shrubland on shadier N- and E-facing slopes. In each photo, note the vegetation differences, and speculate which direction these hills face, and how much moisture these plants have access to.

May 14, 2012

Photos: 18

Santa Monica Mountains Through the Years

Here are some photos that aren't in other albums: La Jolla, Boney Mountain, Malibu Canyon, MASH site, Solstice Canyon, Red Rock Canyon, Calabasas Peak, Corral Canyon, Backbone Trail, etc. Some are hazy because of generalized condensation, because it's cooler near the ocean. Most of these are my photos, but students contribute, and there are hundreds more.:-)

May 13, 2012

Photos: 56

San Gabriel Mountains (behind Pasadena)

These are from miscellaneous field trips 2004-2009, and some students contributed. If you want to know what things are, that's just too bad.

May 12, 2012

Photos: 47

Palos Verdes Peninsula

PV Field Trips 1997-2009

May 11, 2012

Photos: 61

Egypt, Minya & Fayoum

I worked in Egypt 2 summers training teachers with the American-Egyptian Master Teachers Exhange Program (AEMTEP). I loved it! Because I'd worked in Kenya, it had a wonderful feel of being on the African continent, yet Arabic and Middle Eastern and uniquely Egyptian, all at the same time. African birds that follow the Nile River corridor and Rift Valley lakes and rivers, and the trains, made me feel at home from the first weekend there, "just the feeling of it." I love cultures where everyone hugs and kisses shamelessly! Our culture has lost its finesse in too many ways, but we can still try to have good values.:-)

Mar 21, 2012

Photos: 25

My Turkana Friends

These are some of my friends (Lopae) during my M.A. and Ph.D. fieldwork in Northwest Kenya. The dust storm's low-pressure center lifted up my hut's thatch roof (shown in black and white photo), released debris, and put the roof back down! (It was like a dispensation of I-don't know-what from the sky.) That's why the film was so dusty. The shop owner and her daughter are Somalis.

Mar 21, 2012

Photos: 22

Turkana Nomadic Pastoralists in NW Kenya

This is where I did M.A. and Ph.D. research. Thanks to friend & AMREF colleague Dr. Calum Macpherson for copies of 3 of his photos; the rest are mine. (I still need to go back and re-scan some of these slides!)

Mar 21, 2012

Photos: 38

African Wildlife

Yes, these are my photos!:-) I was a tour manager for this UCLA Biogeography class taught by Dr. Hartmut Walter, The Natural History of East Africa.

Mar 20, 2012

Photos: 39

Dr. Renfrew's Paintings (some)

Can you tell what she likes?

Mar 20, 2012

Photos: 21

Tropical Plants -- Pretend you're there

I'm trying to learn tropical plants because many are transplanted to So. California, and I recognize them from Kenya, Micronesia, and many tropical cities I've visited. Pretend you're there.

Mar 19, 2012

Photos: 37

Landforms Slide Show

Learning to recognize landforms, and whether they are caused or shaped by rivers, glaciers, Karst dissolution, coastal or desert erosion, or winds, will help you enjoy traveling and watching movies.

Mar 18, 2012

Photos: 25

What Melanie Likes

Jul 9, 2011

Photos: 169

My son (and some of his photos) in Europe

Jul 9, 2011

Photos: 72

Lost in translation

Jul 8, 2011

Photos: 16

What Europeans Value

Jul 8, 2011

Photos: 24

February 26-27, 2011

During and after our storm.

Feb 27, 2011

Photos: 36

Dr. Renfrew's Vacation Video

Aug 20, 2010

Photos: 1

Huntington Gardens and Bonsai

Great for pretend travel to China and Japan, England (tea room), Australia, the desert, and tropical rainforest! Some of these Bonsai trees are 350 years old. Just take 110N to California Blvd. in Pasadena, go right 3 miles, right on Allen. Bring student I.D., $10. It's just down the hill from Eaton Canyon.

Jun 10, 2010

Photos: 55

Spring 2010 Geography Field Trips, Student photos

Thank you to the Serate family, Maria Lorena Rodriguez, Ana Marquez, and many other students who sent me photos this semester! Have a great summer and welcome on future field trips to come along and show off what you remember! Cheers, Dr. Renfrew

Jun 6, 2010

Photos: 100

Geography Field Trips, LAHC

"Geography rocks!"

Jun 5, 2010

Photos: 36

Student photos - LAHC Geography field trips

These photos are some of the many thousands taken by our students from Harbor. How many plants, rocks, and landforms can you recognize? These are all in our local mountains --do you recognize the places?

Jun 4, 2010

Photos: 56

Eaton Canyon 3-26-10 LAHC Geography

Students, send me your photos at renfremp@lahc.edu. Happy Easter and break, everyone! "Love and hugs," Dr. Renfrew

Mar 26, 2010

Photos: 29

Forrestal Canyon, P.V. 3/5/10, LAHC Geography

This is our Friday Geography 1 class.

Mar 5, 2010

Photos: 14

Red Rock Canyon 2-28-10, LAHC Geography

I like pink.

Mar 2, 2010

Photos: 63

New Year's Day

The Zuma Beach / Trancas Canyon Starbucks, a popular destination, was too crowded, so I got a fried chicken thigh for my son at Howe's. Now whenever I want him to help me with fieldwork, I can bribe him with, "I'll buy you a piece of chicken!"

Jan 1, 2010

Photos: 42

Waiting for the Pink at Santa Monica Beach

I took these on my way home yesterday: this is where I used to ride my bike when I went to UCLA. (I've never seen a "green flash," and I think people see all kinds of things looking for it.) Watch the sky as we rotate out of the sun's visible wavelengths, which then hit our sky at oblique angles. Some people go home right after the sun sinks, but if there are clouds, wait for the gold to shift to oranges; and if you like pink, wait it out, because red rays are longest in the electromagnetic spectrum (aka rainbow), next to invisible infrared. This ridgeline is in the background of a lot of TV and movies (aka the "backbone" of the Santa Monica Mountains).

Dec 29, 2009

Photos: 17

1-3 p.m. in the Santa Monica Mountains

There's a lot of geography in our local mountains. See what you recognize in the atmosphere, lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and human influence. I took these photos in a 2-hour period on Dec. 29.

Dec 29, 2009

Photos: 70

Hawaii

Dec 28, 2009

Photos: 26

Alligators in Florida

Dec 28, 2009

Photos: 27

2008 Europe Photos

Yah, sure.

Dec 4, 2009

Photos: 13

Wave refraction at Pt. Vicente Fishing Access (video)

Nov 26, 2009

Photos: 1

How to Create Zen Art when you can't think of anything

Jun 30, 2009

Photos: 6

Dr. Melanie Renfrew
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Recent Comments View All

"The Turkana are Kenya's third-largest tribe and the second largest group of nomadic pastoralists (after Maasai). The majority live in Turkana District of Rift Valley in the arid northwest of Kenya. Most of Turkana are cattle herders, some engage in small-scale agriculture and fishing on Lake Turkana. They speak Turkana which is similar to the Maasai language and is considered to be of Nilotic in origin."

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