> though not unusually notable as an assistant professor at a mainstream state school.

We really, really need to get away from this academic obsession with prestige. If she does solid analysis and communicates it effectively, with a record that looks increasingly good as time passes, she's already ahead of the curve. Meanwhile many other highly-credentialed, prestigious experts have been wrong over and over and over again in this pandemic.

Academic/scientific institutions are polluted by the credentialisim/prestige focus. It's the ugliest aspect of the whole space.