I've changed the hierarchy to something less hierarchical (states of sea ice from open water to multi-year ice). Let me know what you think. If it's too confusing, I might do away with it altogether.
Good move. Of course it's initially confusing, but I think it's better than a scary/elitist hierarchy.
Maybe just consider changing "Open Water" to "Open Water Lurker" for members who don't post much? So as not to lose the distinction entirely. I think such members deserve a different (better) treatment so as to encourage them to participate.
Also, is there a way to designate newly-registered posters as such? Let's say up to 1 month from date of registration. I think this could be useful.
If this is possible, I would add the word "New" to the user's status.
"New Open Water", "New Nilas", etc.
So it becomes a two-condition status, based on number of posts and time since registration.