Speaking of self representation… his degree was in physiology and biophysics, but this is conveniently forgotten on his department web page.
http://www.geog.ucla.edu/people/faculty.php?lid=3078&display_one=1&modify=1

I have asked UCLA IRB if they reviewed the research Diamond did for World Wildlife Fund (WWF) 2001-2002 in PNG (when Wemp was driving him around as a WWF employee) . When Diamond writes about this consulting work he refers to getting permission for interviewing Chevron employees in addition to the bird watching.

I am waiting for UCLA IRB’s answer.

I do know from New Yorker editor that Diamond had no written or “informed consent.” She told me I was “confusing” journalism (which she claimed was what Dr. Diamond was doing) with science.

NAME: Dr. Nancy Sullivan
NATIONALITY: USA
QUALIFICATIONS:
PhD anthropology with specialization in PNG media production (abd)

The whole problem was that you can’t *really* be a “PhD (abd).” the “abd” part makes the “PhD” part impossible, doesn’t it? Others were more worried that she claimed for herself the title of “Dr.”

Bonnie Garner

I was not in the least troubled by someone listing themself as “PhD (abd)” — a small twist on reality, at worst. (Of course, for the uninitiated “abd” could have been interpreted as “absolutely brilliant dissertation”…) But when I checked Nancy’s website I was more surprised to see that she does call herself “Dr.” Nancy Sullivan, and that is simply wrong. That mis-identification is of a different order than the PhD (abd) matter. That is a more clear misrepresentation of one’s status.

As we are moving out of the phase of a new U.S. president’s nomination of so many appointees, perhaps Nancy and others will understand that the slighest whiff of dishonesty has often de-railed appointments, sometimes over minor issues that have nothing to do with the candidate’s qualifications for office. I’m much more sympathetic to those who question Nancy’s honesty since seeing the “Dr.” designation — and her explanation merely tells us why she does not have a PhD, not why she nonetheless calls herself “Dr.”

– David

Nancy Sullivan’s NYU PhD advisors write letters of support over the years knowing full well her degree status as PhD (ABD)–hence why, with their support and from others in anthropology, she recently won a Guggenheim.

Therefore these claims of fraud (even suggesting that she needs to apologize to NYU) are outrageous libels and make no sense as well as serve as cruel distractions from what is real about Nancy and her work. She has earned her way in spades: It’s all on her web site: Her many grants, her work for the PNG government, her authorship and editing of books with Divine Word University, her company that trains Papua New Guinean ethnographers, her whistle-blowing reports of manufacturing plants, labour issues, corruption, and conservation in PNGand her articles about virtually all aspects of PNG popular culture. PNG Anthropologists say she speaks Tok Pisin like a native Papua New Guinean, such is her competence .