A stellar year for Sanford Lab

From SDSTA Executive Director Mike Headley

As 2015 comes to a conclusion, I?ve been reflecting on the incredible progress we?ve made this year at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Sanford Lab). On many fronts plans are advancing to support our science activities today and to prepare for even larger experiments in the coming years. 

We are excited to be operating a new expanded science campus near the Ross Shaft on the 4850 Level and to be participating in the development of plans to host future experiments studying dark matter and neutrinos. Underpinning all of this progress is our continued improvement of the Sanford Lab safety culture. In particular, our safety program reached a significant milestone in 2015 by completing 13 months of operations without a workplace-related injury. I am so proud of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA) staff and our researchers for the focus you place on safety every day. 

This tremendous progress has been directly supported by our strong partnerships with many organizations, including the science collaborations at Sanford Lab; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, which oversees our operations for the Department of Energy; and Fermilab, the lead DOE laboratory for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (LBNF/DUNE) project. I also want to thank the State of South Dakota and the SDSTA Board of Directors for their strong support.

I?d like to express my deep appreciation to the SDSTA staff, our science collaborations, university and national laboratory partners, and the funding agencies for the opportunity to support world-leading underground science at Sanford Lab.