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Education and Outreach

Education through science, technology and engineering
kids electroplating coper

The Education and Outreach program is a collaborative venture between Sanford Underground Research Facility and Black Hills State University. Our goal is to use the excitement and promise of deep underground science and engineering to inspire and engage students, educators and the wider community through a variety of programming, including:

  • Curriculum units tied to the science and engineering taking place at Sanford Lab
  • Onsite surface tours, workshops and presentations for K-12 school field trips
  • Offsite workshops and presentations at schools and communities across South Dakota and surrounding region
  • Distance Education utilizing videoconferencing technology
  • Undergraduate internships
  • Professional development opportunities for educators
  • Davis-Bahcall Scholars summer program

Education and Outreach staff are committed to increasing the number of students pursuing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) careers, especially students who belong to groups historically under-represented in those fields.

high school education activity
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K-12 STEM education

Based on South Dakota's science standards, our education specialists work to create and advance innovative educational programming at the local, state and national levels.
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Internships

Sanford Lab's internships provide a unique learning environment in which undergraduate students work with experts from around the world to gain valuable real-world experience.
Electoplating activity at neutrino day.
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Public outreach

Sanford Lab’s education extends beyond the classroom. In communities across the state, we're working to build excitement about our underground science experiments.
Davis-Bahcall Scholars look down a drift
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Davis-Bahcall Scholars

Through SURF’s Davis-Bahcall Scholars Program, students experience a once-in-a-lifetime learning opportunity that takes them around the world of modern scientific research.