Wesley Goodridge wins big at Canada-Wide Science Fair

MORRISTON – A Puslinch boy walked away from Canada’s national science fair with a gold medal, a challenge award, and a $10,000 university scholarship. 

The purpose of his project? To reduce milk waste with an innovative way to test it for freshness. 

“One million cups of milk are wasted every day in Canada,” Wesley Goodridge told the Advertiser. 

The Grade 7 Aberfoyle Public School student travelled from his Morriston home to Edmonton, Alberta for the Canada-Wide Science Fair at the Edmonton Expo Centre from May 23 to 30. 

He was one of nearly 400 students in Grades 7 through 12 to compete at the fair, where he got to sleep in university dorms, eat in the school cafeteria and “meet lots of young innovators who became friends – an overall awesome experience.” 

Expenses for his trip were covered by the Canadian Black Scientists Network because of his success at its science fairs. 

Goodridge earned the gold medal for being one of the top 10 projects in the junior (Grades 7 and 8) category at the fair, and the challenge award for the number one agricultural project in his age group. 

Goodridge said he was so excited to hear of his wins that he was “honestly kind of screaming in my head.” 

And his dad, Lawrence Goodridge, really did scream his head off. 

“This is a big deal,” he said of his son’s accomplishment. 

The scholarship can be used at various universities, though right now Goodridge has his eyes on the University of Guelph, where he hopes to study science while also taking to the skies to train to be a commercial pilot. 

Goodridge said he’s always been interested in science, noting, “My dad is a food professor at the University of Guelph and always shows me stuff and I always have questions to ask.” 

His project, called Test Before You Toss, uses adenosine triphosphate (ATP) to measure milk’s bacteria levels. 

He picked the topic after travelling to Rome with his dad, a professor and Canada Research Chair in food-borne pathogen dynamics, who was doing work with the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations.

There was a large display in the cafeteria with information about food waste, and it got Goodridge thinking. 

Many people are confused about best-before dates, and throw away food that is still usable. Or they rely on sometimes unreliable observations about look, smell and taste to judge quality, Goodridge said.  

He wanted to find a fast, simple way to measure bacteria at home, without counting the bacteria itself, as that takes too long.  

“ATP is in every cell, and bacteria are cells, so [measuring ATP] is a good way to  indicate spoilage,” he said. 

And measuring ATP only takes about a minute, he said.

The Methylene Blue Dye Reduction Test often used to test milk freshness on farms takes up to six hours.  

Goodridge uses a handheld ATP bioluminescence test, and then inputs the number into a custom artificial intelligence model that provides clear recommendations based on the number. 

For example, it may determine that the milk is spoiled and should be thrown out, or it may find the milk will spoil in about 24 hours so should-be used quickly. 

It even goes on to provide recipes such as pancakes, muffins and creamy soups to help use up that milk before it sours. 

Goodridge said he really enjoyed the judging during the Canada-Wide Science Fair, when judges walked around the room approaching the young scientists and asking them questions about their work. 

He also enjoyed when local students came to check out the fair, and he had milk samples and the handheld test available to demonstrate. 

For next year’s science fair, Goodridge plans to expand on his idea but make the milk testing approach more accessible, as the handheld ATP bioluminescence test is quite expensive. 

He has hopes of leveraging a new test that uses colour to measure freshness. He also hopes to expand on the types of dairy products that can be tested, including yogurt and high-fat milks.

For more information about Goodridge’s project, click here or visit the Youth Science Canada website.