Davis-Bahcall Scholarship recipients for 2013 announced

Lead, S.D.?Nine outstanding South Dakota science students have been selected as Davis-Bahcall Scholars for 2013. The four-week summer program, now in its sixth year, includes study at the Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead, S.D., and at Italy?s Gran Sasso National Laboratory, which is the world?s largest underground lab. Students also will visit two national labs near Chicago?Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory.

The Davis-Bahcall program provides opportunities for high school seniors and college freshmen to meet and study with scientists and engineers doing world-leading research. The program is made possible through generous financial support from 3M, a global innovation company based in Minnesota, and by the NASA South Dakota Space Grant Consortium, which supports two college freshmen to join the seven high school seniors selected to the program. The Sanford Lab runs the program in partnership with the South Dakota Department of Education.

The program is named for Dr. Ray Davis Jr. and the Dr. John Bahcall. Davis, who was a nuclear chemist at Brookhaven National Laboratory, earned a share of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2002 for his solar neutrino research deep underground at the Homestake gold mine in Lead. Bahcall, a theorist at Princeton University?s Institute for Advanced Study, worked closely with Davis. Neutrinos are subatomic particles produced in fusion reactions in stars, including our own sun. Research by Davis and Bahcall helped introduce a new era in neutrino physics.

The annual Davis-Bahcall Scholarships are open to students at South Dakota schools. The application process is announced in the fall, and this year 65 students applied. The scholars were selected based on grades, extracurricular activities, application essays, support letters, personal interviews and interest in careers in science, technology, engineering and math?also known as the STEM career paths. This year?s Davis-Bahcall Scholars will study physics, engineering and geology, and they will receive college credits. The four-week program begins in early July. Lead High School science teacher Rose Emmanuel will accompany the students.

The Sanford Underground Research Facility is advancing our understanding of the universe by providing laboratory space deep underground, where sensitive physics experiments are shielded from cosmic radiation. Researchers at the Sanford Lab are exploring some of the most challenging questions facing 21st century physics, such as the nature of dark matter and the properties of neutrinos. The Sanford Lab also hosts experiments in other disciplines?including geology, biology and engineering.

A list of students is below. For more information, contact Sanford Lab Deputy Education and Outreach Director Peggy Norris at pnorris@sanfordlab.org or at (605) 722-5049.

Information online:

• The Sanford Underground Research Facility: www.sanfordlab.org
• Gran Sasso National Laboratory: http://www.lngs.infn.it
• Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory: http://www.fnal.gov
• Argonne National Laboratory: http://www.anl.gov
• S.D. Department of Education: http://www.doe.sd.gov/secretary/scholarships.aspx
• 3M: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Company/Information/
• South Dakota Space Grant Consortium: http://sdspacegrant.sdsmt.edu