Source: NCSU COLLEGE OF AG & LIFE SCIENCES, 3/1/21


An ultracold freezer that will someday store tissue samples from alligators, black bears and other wildlife is holding coronavirus vaccines at Student Health Services.

Researcher Nathan Hostetter, who joined the Department of Applied Ecology faculty in December, is pleased that the new -80 Celsius freezer took a detour on the way to his lab.

“The timing is perfect,” says Hostetter, an assistant unit leader with the North Carolina Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.
An ultracold freezer for the Student Health Services Center was on backorder because of the global need for coronavirus vaccine storage. Both mRNA vaccines and wildlife tissue samples require ultracold storage to preserve genetic material.

Sharp-eyed staff members in university central receiving spotted the incoming freezer shipment and alerted Amy Orders, director of emergency management and mission continuity. Her staff contacted Carrie Baum-Lane, executive assistant in Applied Ecology, who asked Hostetter about a loan.

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