
Professional Title
Director
Biography
- Limnology, aquatic ecology, biogeochemistry, fisheries, lake management and restoration, eutrophication, harmful algae blooms, groundwater, biodiversity, endangered species, carbon cycling, global role of lakes and streams
- Research, education and science policy
- Professor, Department of Biology and with Large Lakes Observatory (UMD)
- Immediate past chair, Council of Scientific Society Presidents
- Immediate past president, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography
Publications
Videos
- Protecting Local Water Quality Has Global Benefits by John A. Downing and Steve Newbold. Environmental Defense Fund Economics Seminar. September 29, 2021.
- Viral Transport, Survival, and Transmission via Freshwater Ecosystems: Relevance to the Social Cost of Water Pollution by John A. Downing. Presented at the April 2021 Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability workshop on the Social Cost of Water Pollution.
MNSG Leadership
- Director
Education
- Ph.D. - Biology
- McGill University
- M.S. - Zoology
- North Dakota State University
- B.S. - Biology
- Hamline University
Earth's Eye: Director's Column

February 1, 2023
The open water of Lake Superior (right) and the frozen water of the Duluth-Superior harbor (left). Image credit: M. Thoms

December 28, 2021
Plate ice, cracked ice, and refrozen plate ice on a Minnesota lake. Image credit: John A. Downing.

November 1, 2021
Image credit: Igor Pushkarev. All AdobeStock images in this story are protected by copyright.

July 1, 2021
Image credit: ©diyanadimitrova. Stock.adobe.com

February 25, 2021
Image credit: ©besjunior. stock.adobe.com