Joshua Haiar/South Dakota Searchlight – A lot of research happens underground, from physicists searching for tiny particles to geologists studying tectonic movements of Earth’s crust.
But those disciplines are not necessarily communicating with one another.
The Sanford Underground Research Facility Foundation aims to change that by raising money and constructing a $100 million Institute for Underground Science in Lead by 2034.
“There is a need because there is so much being done in underground science,” said Constance Walter, of the foundation. “We want to unite the global underground science community.”
The institute would be an addition to the existing Sanford Underground Research Facility, which consists of scientific experiments and other infrastructure housed below and above ground at the former Homestake Gold Mine. Former mining tunnels nearly a mile underground provide an exceptionally low-disturbance environment for experiments in physics, biology and geology.
The facility is particularly known for research into dark matter, the undetected substance that’s theorized to make up much of the matter in the universe, and neutrinos, one of the most abundant subatomic particles.
The institute would host public lectures and conferences at a 300-person auditorium and provide space for collaborative research. There would also be on-site housing for researchers.
“Most of this stuff is already happening,” Walter said. “What we’re hoping to do is now create a space where it can all happen under one roof.”
Fundraising to build the new institute has just begun and will continue over the next decade.
“And it will be entirely privately funded,” Walter said.