As an Aussie, thats what you call a "european in a tropical environment" pose.

The other variant of it usually involves flaking skin on newly formed tans and sunburn so bad its started to go almost purple.

But the root cause is essentially the same.

Plus, they're researchers guys, what do you think scientists in the field actually look like :P

For sure, it's possible. Like I said, I could be wrong. It just looks like the lean-in is one way. But yeah, it could also be exhaustion or other things.