Fridge Factor Opens the Door for NC State Students To Become Citizen Scientists

To get involved in NC State’s 2026 Pack Science Challenge, students don’t need access to a lab – just a refrigerator, a phone and a few minutes each day for two weeks. 

“Everyone has a refrigerator,” says Fridge Factor creator Paige Luck, an instructor in the Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Sciences. “And using it to collect data about food storage is a logical way to improve our knowledge of food safety and foodborne illness.”

Fridge Factor runs for two weeks, from Feb. 18 to March 11. The project is open to up to 250 students from any college and major.

To get started, students will fill out an initial survey, then pick up a refrigerator thermometer and door magnet with a QR code at D.H. Hill Library. Supplies will be distributed Feb. 16-18 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. daily in the lobby. 

Starting Feb. 18, participants will check the refrigerator temperature each day, scan the QR code and enter the data online. They’ll also keep track of any food they throw out and answer weekly questions about symptoms of foodborne illness. 

Once the study is complete, students can turn in their thermometers and pick up some Howling Cow ice cream and a T-shirt, while supplies last. 

A Bigger Fridge

The data students collect will be used to create an infographic with basic food safety information, which will be shared with participants and the campus community. 

“We can do more to educate our own community if we have a better understanding of the food safety challenges,” Luck says. 

She and colleague Fernanda Santos, a faculty member in food science, also plan to incorporate the Fridge Factor project in their undergraduate and graduate classes — to provide a hands-on approach to teaching science communication, for example.

Luck, who teaches Introduction to Food Science, eventually hopes to take Fridge Factor to a younger audience: middle and high school students. 

“Food science is a discovery major,” Luck explains, adding that most undergrads aren’t aware it’s an option when they come to NC State. “It’s not food service and it’s not nutrition, and they’re not familiar with it.”

Fridge Factor is another way to shine a light — a refrigerator light — on food science. 

“We hope it’s just the beginning of good things to come,” Luck says.

This post was originally published in College of Agriculture and Life Sciences News.