John Downing

Dr. John Downing is the Director of the Minnesota Sea Grant College Program, a research scientist at the Large Lakes Observatory on Lake Superior, and a professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Dr. Downing holds a B.S. in Biology from Hamline University, an M.S. in Zoology from North Dakota State University, and a Ph.D. in Biology from McGill University. Dr. Downing was previously Regent's Excellence Professor of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology and Chair of the Environmental Science Graduate Program at Iowa State University. Downing was also formerly a professor at the Université de Montréal where he was Director of the Laurentian Biological Station and a founding member of the Groupe de Recherche Interuniversitaire en Limnologie. Dr. Downing is the former Chair of the Executive Board of the Council of Scientific Society Presidents (CSSP) and former President of ASLO. Reflected in >175 academic publications (H-index 88, i10 index 153, 39,000+ citations), his areas of expertise range from aquatic ecology and fisheries biology to whole ecosystem management, resource economics, mammalian ecology, biodiversity, and global carbon cycling. He is a sustaining fellow of ASLO, and a recipient of the Iowa State University (ISU) Research Excellence Award, the Thieneman-Naumann Medal for excellence in limnological research from SIL, Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize for Applied Policy Analysis from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, the Regent’s Faculty Excellence Award from ISU, the Ruth Patrick Award from ASLO, co-recipient of the John H. Martin Award of ASLO, the Visionary Leader Award from CSSP, and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.