Dr. Astrid Schmidt-Kloiber is a river ecologist with a background on benthic invertebrates and expertise in database design, development and management. She has established and is responsible for freshwaterecology.info, a Europe-wide trait database for fish, macro invertebrates, macrophytes, diatoms and phytoplankton. She is experienced in handling all kinds of freshwater-related (meta)data, she manages the Freshwater Metadatabase and has founded the Freshwater Metadata Journal. Astrid is leading the development of the Freshwater Information Platform, providing up-to-date information on freshwater science as well as an array of research resources and tools for the assessment and management of freshwater ecosystems. Within AQUACROSS, she is mainly involved in WP6, contributing freshwater-related knowledge in data management and experiences in the establishment of online information systems.