▁Ste ward ' s ▁fasc ination ▁of ▁the ▁natural ▁world . ▁In ▁ 1 9 1 8 ▁Ste ward ▁attended ▁a ▁California ▁College , ▁found ▁insp iration ▁from ▁the ▁natural ▁environment ▁and ▁gained ▁insight ▁which ▁promoted ▁a ▁future ▁passion ▁toward ▁e colog ical ▁studies . ▁Ste ward ▁contributions ▁to ▁theories ▁of ▁cultural ▁e col ogy ▁and ▁cultural ▁evolution ▁are ▁ren owned . ▁ ▁Trans form ations ▁ ▁Ste ward ▁officially ▁form ulated ▁the ▁basic ▁theoretical ▁and ▁method ological ▁framework ▁for ▁cultural ▁e col ogy ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 5 0 s – 6 0 s . ▁The ▁transformation ▁of ▁cultural ▁e col ogy ▁into ▁e colog ical ▁anth rop ology ▁took ▁place ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 6 0 s ▁through ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s ▁by ▁anth rop olog ists ▁John ▁Ben nett , ▁Roy ▁A . ▁R app ap ort , ▁Andrew ▁P . ▁V ay da , ▁and ▁others . ▁Two ▁additional ▁theoretical ▁and ▁method ological ▁frameworks ▁sur fac ed ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 8 0 s ▁and ▁ 9 0 s ▁which ▁attempted ▁to ▁cast ▁e colog ical ▁anth rop ology ▁in ▁a ▁more ▁scientific ▁light . ▁The ▁first ▁of ▁which , ▁was ▁when ▁Mar vin ▁Harris ▁act ively ▁and ▁system atically ▁worked ▁to ▁develop ▁" c ult ural ▁material ism " ▁as ▁an ▁approach ▁to ▁research . ▁Harris ' s ▁intention ▁was ▁to ▁expose ▁and ▁analyze ▁the ▁e colog ical ▁logic ▁underlying ▁multiple ▁fac ets ▁of ▁culture . ▁The ▁cultural ▁system ▁was ▁split ▁into