Currently the USS Serenity is patrolling the nuetral zone very close to Romulan Territory, as a science vessel it is our job to seek out new scientific events such as anomalies, seek out and gather data on new races, map new star systems and update information on older systems that have gone through significant scientific changes.
As Scientists at heart, our crew is more relaxed then most, while still following the prime directive, when on duty protocals such as Sir, Ma'am and so on are not always followed, most science vessels are more like a small community then a federation starship, because in general they have smaller crews and need to be able to get alone better.