Final answer:
Ethno-ecologists are anthropologists who study the interaction between human societies and their environments, with Julian Steward and Marvin Harris being notable figures in the field.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term ‘ethno-ecologists’ refers to anthropologists who focus on the relationships between human societies and their environments. In the context of anthropology, this can include studies on how different cultures interact with and understand their natural surroundings. Ethno-ecology is a subset of cultural anthropology and intersects with ecological and environmental studies. One notable figure in this field is Julian Steward, who developed the cultural ecology framework, emphasizing environmental adaptation in the development of human cultures. Another key contributor is Marvin Harris, who proposed cultural materialism, highlighting the influence of economic and technological factors on culture. Early anthropologists like Edward S. Curtis, although not necessarily ethno-ecologists, collected visual anthropological data which sometimes reinforced stereotypes rather than representing the realities of Indigenous peoples. Franz Boas, a prominent anthropologist, advocated for direct ethnographical information gathering from the peoples being studied. Boas’s students, such as Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, expanded on his work, influencing fields like medical and psychological anthropology. In later decades, recognizing the impact of researchers’ cultural perspectives and biases became more prevalent, and anthropologists began critiquing earlier works for their ethnocentrism and limited viewpoints.