The Open Source Science Project: Public involvement in a longitudinal nutrient survey of the MissouriMississippi River

*Priyan Weerappuli1, Jeffrey Strock2, William Richardson3, Robert Hrabik4, Jason Crites4, R. Eugene Turner5, Clifford Ochs6
1The Open Source Science Project, 2University of Minnesota, 3USGS La Crosse WI, 4Missouri Dept. Conservation, 5Louisiana State University, 6University of Mississippi
he resear h proje t proposa was posted on he OSSP we site and in ded the tota d et needed to ond t the st d an itemi ed reakdown o the osts omprisin the tota d et a map (em edded rom oo e maps) disp a in a 606 proposed samp in sites and a detai ed o er iew o the resear h st d and its o je ti es. Indi id a s seekin to o nteer as samp ers were pro ided with a we orm where the o d enter their ip ode in order to identi the samp in sites nearest to them; and were pro ided with a se ond orm thro h whi h to req est the sites the were wi in and a e to samp e.
        

Used with permission: Wikimedia Commons

Conta t in ormation was a so pro ided or and in estors to onta t the resear h team.

o nteers

Materials and Methods Summary and Conclusions

Fund-raising and the recruitment of volunteers for the survey were primarily conducted via a web-based platform, and a series of outreach efforts including media interviews, Facebook ads/messages, and direct phone/email announcements. Investors submitted anonymous investments and commitments to invest via a series of web forms posted on The OSSP website. Volunteer samplers were recruited primarily from colleges and universities located in the regions immediately surrounding the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and were contacted via phone calls/emails to faculty, interviews/articles submitted to news outlets, partnerships with non-profit organizations (i.e. the 1 Mississippi Campaign), and in-person laboratory visits. Testing services were contracted to TestAmerica Laboratories, and all documentation pertaining to these services (i.e. cost estimates, testing protocols, and material sources) were posted online alongside the project proposal. The two fundamental challenges encountered in preparing the citizen-led nutrient survey initially proposed, proved to be (1) raising and retaining the funds submitted by individual investors and (2) addressing questions and concerns expressed by investors and volunteers regarding (a) the effect of flood events on the validity of experimental results, (b) the effect of flood events and media coverage of flood events upon the subsequent public perception of experimental results, and (c) a lack of general understanding regarding the conditions that could be defined as normal river conditions. In developing similar citizen-led research projects in the future, variables worth further study are the expectations with which individuals invest in such research, and what steps can be taken to unify these expectations with the realities of scientific inquiry.

O er the o rse o se en months an estimated 175 o nteer samp ers were assi ned to sites o ated on the Upper ississippi and isso ri Ri ers. Assi ned samp in sites a on the Lower ississippi Ri er were more sparse d e to the a k o o e es and ni ersities near the ri er. wo ndamenta de isions re ardin this proje t were made in the interest o ens rin o nteer sa et . he irst de ision was to add h dro h ori a id preser ati e to the samp e ott es at the estAmeri a La orator . and the estAmeri a sta as opposed to doin so in the ie d. he se ond de ision was to s hed e samp in dates on i ri er e e s were e ow ood sta e.
           

r . s eno i op h o not ae eh r o e i s nops e i r t o de e e er a eh e eh w o i e t i t r o eh o n s nert n es eh o t r ops na t a t ne e t t i t i t r eh dna sr e i r es eh o n s nert n o not do t n t t t i t i i r i anos aes eh t e i r e a ah t r h i h w s n e t ap r t dna e r os eh o n dna sr edn r e ae a n a o t i t t r i
  

Objective


* Corresponding author. priyan@theopensourcescienceproject.com

In October 2010 we proposed, and initiated, a citizen-led nutrient survey of the MissouriMississippi River system. The goals of this survey were to: (1) identify hot spots where nutrients may be entering the river system in particularly high concentrations; (2) better understand the processes by which these nutrients are transported along the length of the river before they are ultimately released into the Gulf of Mexico; and (3) increase the transparency of the research process to the public by improving access to high quality scientific information, and creating opportunities for citizens to directly participate in the acquisition of new knowledge. In the eight months that followed, we raised funds for this project via small grants (microinvestments) submitted by individual citizens; and recruited volunteer samplers from colleges and universities immediately surrounding the river system. Challenges encountered with regard to the implementation of citizen science on this scale have included those derived from (1) coordinating a large group of distributed volunteers; (2) raising funds for basic research projects; and (3) addressing volunteer/investor concerns regarding external events (e.g. flooding).

Abstract