New IPCC lead author, one word: strange

WUWT
"And you thought railroad engineer Pachauri was odd…

Donna Laframboise of “No Frakking Consensus” does some digging, and what she turns up about the new IPCC lead author is to say the least, strange. Some excerpts:

In 1994, Kovats was one of only 21 people in the entire world selected to work on the first IPCC chapter that examined how climate change might affect human health. She was 25 years old. Her first academic paper wouldn’t be published for another three years. It would be six years before she’d even begin her doctoral studies and 16 years before she’d graduate.

This question Laframboise asks really, really, needs an answer:

How does one land that sort of position (and, presumably, that sort of salary) prior to finishing their PhD?"