At the Water Microbiology group (PI and main supervisor: Catherine J. Paul), we study environmental microbial communities in a water engineering context. This includes microbial biofilms used for wastewater and drinking water treatment, microbial communities in drinking water distribution systems, microorganisms in contaminated sediments and agricultural water contexts, and faecal indicator bacteria linked to low bathing water quality. We aim to identify the microorganisms in these environments, their temporal and spatial dynamics, and to investigate the ecological processes explaining the assembly of these communities. In particular, we focus on understanding the contribution of the microbial community composition and activity to ecosystem function, as well as their positive or negative effects on human society, infrastructure, and the environment. To study populations and communities in these environments, multiple approaches are used. These include sequencing methods such as amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics of microbial communities, metatranscriptomics, and whole genome sequencing of microbial isolates. In addition, massive data collection with online flow cytometry is used together with machine learning for data analysis and predictions. All of these approaches generate large volumes of biological and environmental data and rely on computationally heavy analysis. Access to high-performance computing and data storage resources is therefore essential for data processing and interpretation.