This is taken directly from the 1mississippi.net website:
The Open Source Science Project (OSSP) is a web-based social business wholly dedicated to rendering transparent 'black-box' of contemporary scientific research, and increasing its accessibility by affording all individuals - irrespective of geographic, cultural, socio-economic, academic, or personal background; the opportunity to participate directly in the scientific research process.
Excess nutrients released into the Missouri-Mississippi river system are believed to be responsible for the development of a large hypoxic (oxygen-depleted) zone in the Gulf of Mexico - sometimes referred to as the Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone'.
This project seeks to identify hot spots where the local quantity of nutrients introduced into the Missouri-Mississippi river system is particularly high, and to investigate the processes by which these nutrients are transported along the length of these rivers until they are ultimately released into the Gulf of Mexico.
As a volunteer, you will collect water samples from one or more pre-determined locations within this river system. Samples will be collected using bottles provided by The OSSP, frozen (immediately), packaged, and shipped to the TestAmerica laboratory in Unviersity Park, Illinois - where they will be analyzed for the presence of five inorganic nutrients.
The project lasts from April 2011 to January 2012.
For more information on what volunteers would actually do, download the attachment, provided by The OSSP.
To volunteer, click here.
http://1mississippi.net/river-citizen-forums/volunteering/want-be-scientist