"Notwithstanding" - DNA testing of soil

"Notwithstanding" my scepticism about hi-tech machines to study soil biology such as presented on the Landline program, an offer by Professor Andy Whiteley seems to good to refuse.
He has been appointed for four years to the University of W.A., amongst other things, to compile a soil DNA database for W.A. His project is funded by the State government, and is high-powered recognition of the potential value to the community.
Apparently the DNA testing is so easy, it can be offered as a free service to involve people like school-kids to submit samples - so-called "citizen science".
Well, this certainly could include us.
I have contacted Andy, explaining that not only can we provide soil samples, but also can back them up with facts relevant to the farm. The farm facts (our database) that can go alongside, should make the results a lot more meaningful. He will be able to do number-crunching for his purposes, but hopefully we will also be able to do our own interpretation of the data.