Facebook CEO visits Sanford Lab

Mark Zuckerberg gave himself a challenge for 2017: visit and meet people in every state in the United States to facilitate his work in connecting the world and giving everyone a voice. Last week, the CEO of Facebook and the Co-founder of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, visited South Dakota, where he had lunch with ranchers in Piedmont, discussed net neutrality in Sturgis and stopped by the Sanford Underground Research Facility—all in a single day.

“We were honored to host Mr. Zuckerberg,” said Mike Headley, executive director of Sanford Lab. “He was genuinely interested in the science, the people of South Dakota and the community of Lead.”

In a live stream from the 4850 Level, Zuckerberg talked with Sanford Lab employees Dan Regan and Jaret Heise, and Cabot-Ann Christofferson, a member of the Majorana Collabortion. His goal was to learn more about how the community of Lead adapted as the mine transitioned to a research facility, as well as the world-leading science taking place nearly a mile below the earth’s surface.

In his year of travel challenge, a theme has presented itself: many places that historically had a natural resource-based economy have had to shift to a modern knowledge economy to survive.

“You learn something new, you discover something and everyone can benefit from that,” Zuckerberg said. “So, as a lot of these facilities and the economy gets upgraded to a modern knowledge economy, that becomes positive sum—and really everyone can benefit from that.”

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is dedicated to breaking down barriers that limit individual progress in science and education. In his visit to Sanford Lab, Zuckerberg was inspired to see how important science and education are for the facility and the surrounding community.

“The science work that you’re all doing is going to be really important,” Zuckerberg said during his Facebook live video. “I’m grateful for it. I hope more people who are watching this think of going into science research.”