Rate My Professor William Sloan

Professor William Sloan is the Professor of Environmental Engineering (Infrastructure & Environment) at the James Watt School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, holding the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies since 2020. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE), his academic background includes a PhD in Civil Engineering (2000) and a Postgraduate Certificate in Education (P.G.C.E.) in Mathematics (1991) from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, an MSc in Physical Oceanography (1987) from University College of North Wales, and a BSc (Hons) in Mathematics (1986) from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. Sloan's career encompasses roles such as Lecturer (1999–2005) and Senior Lecturer (2005–2006) in Civil Engineering at the University of Glasgow, EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow (2007–2013) there, NERC Discipline Hopping Fellow at the University of Edinburgh (2002–2003), Hydraulic Modeller at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (1994–1999), Environmental Modeller at the Institute of Hydrology (1992–1994), Mathematics Teacher at Lord Lawson Academy (1990–1992), and earlier engineering positions including Teaching Company Assistant at Noble Denton Associates (1987–1989).

His research specializes in the microbial ecology of engineered biological systems for waste treatment, energy production, and resource recovery, developing mathematical models for the assembly and dynamics of complex microbial communities, including biofilms. Through his RAEng Chair project, 'Off-Grid Water Biotechnologies,' he advances low-energy, sustainable water treatment harnessing microorganisms for rural communities lacking safe water and sanitation. Sloan's influence is reflected in 133 publications, among them highly cited works: 'Quantifying the roles of immigration and chance in shaping prokaryote community structure' (Environmental Microbiology, 2006), 'Estimating prokaryotic diversity and its limits' (PNAS, 2002), 'Global diversity and biogeography of bacterial communities in wastewater treatment plants' (Nature Microbiology, 2019), and 'Challenges in microbial ecology: building predictive understanding of community function and dynamics' (The ISME Journal, 2016).