Across the county, I plan to find several locations to collect water samples to test for various water quality factors such as pH, turbidity, dissolvable oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates. I will also use a biotic index to determine the diversity of indicator species of macroinvertebrates to consider when determining overall ecosystem health. My main goal with this project is to look into the effects of neighboring land use on aquatic ecosystem health. Especially here in Iowa, where agriculture plays a significant role in the environment, I would like to use the data collected from this study to see how much of a role agricultural runoff has on waterways versus, for example, urban runoff. Over the initial fall semester, I intend to take several water samples and biotic index readings across these designated locations to see how they change over the span of a few months. I believe this will be particularly insightful, considering that some of this project will take place throughout the harvest season when additional agricultural runoff will be present. This project aligns with the Science Mission Directorate. This mission directorate’s goal of helping to protect our planet and better understand it directly relates to my project’s goals, which will help provide useful data regarding the impact of land usage on aquatic ecosystem health.