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AMES, Iowa — John Downing, Iowa State University professor of ecology, evolution and organismal biology and agricultural and biosystems engineering, was presented an honorary chair and professorship by China’s Nanchang University.

The chair is named for the Gan River, the major tributary to Poyang Lake, China's largest lake and a national water and wildlife treasure.

“I am assisting the university and Jiangxi Province in analyzing and remediating water quality problems in this large lake that is about the size of Connecticut,” Downing said.

Poyang Lake is a principal tributary to the Yangtze River, China's largest river. The river’s flow has declined about 10 percent due to the Three Gorges Dam project.

Downing studies lakes and rivers around the world and assists Iowa agencies and citizens understand and improve water quality problems at home. He received the appointment from Wen-Bin Zhou, the president of Nanchang University, on June 8. Nanchang University has about 80,000 students in Nanchang and Beijing.