SURF Press Kit
Sanford Underground Research Facility Media Guide
The Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) is America’s underground laboratory, with a mission to advance world-class science and inspire learning across generations.
SURF hosts cutting-edge research across multiple disciplines, including physics, geology, biology, and engineering. The facility hosts more than 30 experiments that are contributing to the fundamental understanding of our universe, advancing our nation’s energy independence, exploring life in extreme environments, and providing basic research that is the foundation for ongoing technological advancement around the world.
SURF’s collaborators include over 2,000 scientists from over 200 institutions and universities worldwide. SURF also plays a vital role in inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals with a robust education and outreach program that reaches 20,000 students and 400 teachers annually. SURF is generating a two-billion-dollar economic impact on South Dakota this decade, with ongoing and future experiments that will continue to inspire and push the boundaries of human knowledge for decades to come.
Referring to the Sanford Underground Research Facility
Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) hosts world-leading research experiments in Lead, South Dakota. SURF is operated by the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA) with funding from the Department of Energy. Our mission is to advance world class science and inspire learning across generations.
On first reference, we are the Sanford Underground Research Facility; thereafter, it can be shortened to SURF (preferred) or our facility’s official tagline “America’s Underground Lab.”
SURF’s dedicated underground scientific research facility is located in what was formerly the deepest underground gold mine in North America. We are proud of this historic heritage; however, mining does not occur at SURF today. Learn more about our history here.
Referring to the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority
SURF is owned and operated by the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA), a board of directors appointed by the governor of South Dakota. Learn about the history of the SDSTA here.
