Anthropology

==== Ecological ====
{{main|Ecological anthropology}}
Ecological anthropology is defined as the "study of [[cultural adaptation]]s to environments".<ref name="Kottak">{{cite book|last=Kottak|first=Conrad Phillip|title=Anthropology : appreciating human diversity|year=2010|publisher=McGraw-Hill|location=New York|isbn=978-0-07-811699-5|pages=579–584|edition=14th}}</ref> The sub-field is also defined as, "the study of relationships between a population of humans and their [[biophysical environment]]".<ref name="Townsend">{{cite book|last=Townsend|first=Patricia K.|title=Environmental anthropology : from pigs to policies|year=2009|publisher=Waveland Press|location=Prospect Heights, Ill.|isbn=978-1-57766-581-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/environmentalant0000town/page/104 104]|edition=2nd|url=https://archive.org/details/environmentalant0000town/page/104}}</ref> The focus of its research concerns "how cultural [[beliefs]] and practices helped human populations adapt to their environments, and how their environments change across space and time.<ref name="Kottak CP 1999">{{cite journal|last1=Kottak|first1=Conrad P.|jstor=683339|title=The New Ecological Anthropology|journal=American Anthropologist|volume=101|issue=1|pages=23–35|year=1999|doi=10.1525/aa.1999.101.1.23|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227632647|hdl=2027.42/66329|hdl-access=free|access-date=10 November 2016|archive-date=29 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929001011/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/227632647|url-status=live}}</ref> The contemporary perspective of environmental anthropology, and arguably at least the backdrop, if not the focus of most of the ethnographies and cultural fieldworks of today, is [[political ecology]]. Many characterize this new perspective as more informed with culture, politics and power, globalization, localized issues, century anthropology and more.<ref name="Pyke G 1984">{{cite journal|last1=Pyke|first1=G H|title=Optimal Foraging Theory: A Critical Review|journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics|volume=15|page=523|year=1984|doi=10.1146/annurev.es.15.110184.002515|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243636746|access-date=10 November 2016|archive-date=3 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170403005941/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/243636746|url-status=live}}</ref> The focus and data interpretation is often used for arguments for/against or creation of policy, and to prevent corporate exploitation and damage of land. Often, the observer has become an active part of the struggle either directly (organizing, participation) or indirectly (articles, documentaries, books, ethnographies). Such is the case with environmental justice advocate Melissa Checker and her relationship with the people of Hyde Park.<ref name="Checker M 2005">{{cite book|author=Melissa Checker|title=Polluted promises: environmental racism and the search for justice in a southern town|url=https://archive.org/details/pollutedpromises0000chec|url-access=registration|year=2005|publisher=NYU Press|isbn=978-0-8147-1657-1}}</ref>