The latest on Ran Boytner, former executive director of the Institute for Field Research

Michael Balter 9/10/2021 04:47:00 PM



For those who have followed the events of the past year or two concerning the Institute for Field Research and its former director, a colleague writes with the following information. For those not up to speed on this, please search "Boytner" on this blog; for legal reasons I am limited in how much linking to past posts I can and want to do. I have slightly edited the following to keep it factual without commentary.



"The website of Twin Cairns, Ran Boytner’s new company, is up and running:
https://twincairns.com/

Boytner’s record at UCLA and IFR is probably why his name is nowhere to be found on the website. (For details see previous posts on this blog.) The investors would doubtless want to keep it this way.

Except that Twin Cairns is managed by Anthropocene Trust:
https://businesssearch.sos.ca.gov/Document/RetrievePDF?Id=202028110180-29101625
https://www.anthropocenetrust.org/home

And Ran Boytner is the Director of Anthropocene Trust:
https://rpanet.org/Sys/PublicProfile/55951484/5426137 "

Michael Balter

Posted by Michael Balter

I have been a working journalist for more than 40 years, beginning in Los Angeles as an investigative reporter and then in Paris as a travel, food, and science writer. For more than 20 years I have covered anthropology and archaeology writer for Science, Audubon, Scientific American, SAPIENS, and other publications. I have also covered sexual misconduct for The Verge, Scientific American, and others; I write about mental health, especially schizophrenia; and I engage in occasional media criticism. I returned to the USA in October 2017 after 30 years in Paris, and now live in the New York City area, where I currently teach journalism at City College of New York (I previously taught journalism at Boston University and New York University.) For more about me and what I do, copies of my articles, information about my book, and other goodies, please visit MY WEB SITE

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6 Comments

Anonymous said…
He is using one scheme to recruit for another
https://twincairns.com/company/Anthropocene%20Trust/
Project Manager/Part Time/Anthropocene Trust/United States/$35- $45 / hour/This is a project manager position at the Anthropocene Trust. The project manager will oversee grant requests and help the Director in the selection of worthy applications for funding.

Listing expired August 29. Young females who applied should be(a)ware.

September 11, 2021 at 2:01 PM
Anonymous said…

Take a look at their Page Source

https://twincairns.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/US-CA-San-Bernadino-2019-3-Credit-Ran-Boytner.png?id=1196

https://twincairns.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/US-CA-San-Bernadino-2019-3-Credit-Ran-Boytner-1.png?id=1205

Looks like he is using images from this 2019 IFR field school

https://www.archaeological.org/fieldwork/the-san-bernadino-national-forest-california-crm-field-school-institute-for-field-research/

Can’t find it now, but someone commented a while ago that he’s using IFR photos also on his other websites. I betya that despite everything that happened they are all still in cahoots.
September 13, 2021 at 2:59 PM
Anonymous said…
Mr. Balter,
I follow you on Tweeter for some time, and noticed that you tweeted today about Kurin supporting Ran Boytner who was terminated from @IFR for “breach of trust.” You may be interested then to learn that he is actively pointing colleagues towards his new venture: Centre for Field Sciences (CFS).
https://www.fieldsciences.org/
As many of us now know, Boytner was credibly accused and/or found responsible for sexual misconduct at UCLA and IFR. The CFS board of directors are either unaware or do not care. https://www.fieldsciences.org/board-of-directors/
Is there something we can do to alert students and faculty?
December 15, 2021 at 2:27 PM
Anonymous said…
This morning, I received an email from an organization known as the Center For Field Sciences. As far as I know, I never signed up for emails from this website. When I clicked on the Constant Contact link, the email was apparently sent by an organization called Twin Cairns. The Center for Field Sciences appears to be yet another Ran Boytner field school scheme. I recognized the images and a lot of the language (EXCELLENCE!!) used on the website as being from the IFR website. I'm guessing that Ran Boytner is using the data that he allegedly stole from the IFR computers (mailing lists), images etc, to now spam people who were previously getting spammed by the IFR.
January 25, 2022 at 8:01 PM
Anonymous said…
You are correct. To understand more how the Center For Field Sciences scheme (or scam) operates, see the latest comments on

https://michael-balter.blogspot.com/2020/06/a-ucla-town-hall-on-meto-and-related.html?commentPage=3
February 26, 2022 at 5:41 PM
Anonymous said…
Based on personal communication at the SAA meeting, Emily Holt stepped down (or was fired?) from her role as executive director of Ran Boytner’s new field school organization. She’s still listed as a board member, so not entirely out. This means that this bogus operation has zero staff members, even though everyone knows that Boytner pulls all the strings from behind the scenes.
April 9, 2022 at 12:47 PM
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