News Release

Contacts: Robert T. Tad Perry, Executive Director

tadp@sdbor.edu

Janelle Toman, Director of Information & Institutional Research

janellet@sdbor.edu

T: 605.773.3455

F: 605.773.5320

www.sdbor.edu

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Monday, May 19, 2008

Researchers Earn Funds to Support Lab Development at Homestake

PIERRE, S.D. – The South Dakota Board of Regents will award seven mini-grants to faculty members across the state who have developed research projects to support science, engineering, and education efforts associated with the new Sanford Underground Laboratory at Homestake.

The grants, worth a total of $32,522, will help support research by faculty at South Dakota public universities as the laboratory gears up to begin experiments at the 4,850-foot level of the former Homestake Gold Mine at Lead.

“Central to the efforts under way at the Sanford lab are goals to increase public understanding of underground science and to prepare the next generation of scientists and engineers,” said Robert T. Tad Perry, the regents’ executive director. “These grants will help further engage our faculty in the early development of experiments and continuing research at the lab.”

The following mini-grants were awarded:

·        $5,000 to Dr. Cynthia M. Anderson, Black Hills State University, and Dr. Sookie S. Bang, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
“Baseline Geomicrobiological Research at the Homestake DUSEL by a Multidisciplinary Research Team Reveals the Need to Conduct a Metagenomic Survey of Eukaryotic Diversity Found in the First Water and Biofilm Samples Taken from Below the Surface”

·        $4,906 to Dr. John Glover, Black Hills State University
“Underground Lab Mini-Grant: Survey of American Indian Perceptions”

·        $5,000 to Dr. Stanley M. Howard, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
“Recycling of Enriched ⁷⁶Ge From the Detector Production Circuit”

·        $2,616 to Dr. Christina Keller, University of South Dakota
“PAN (Physics of Atomic Nuclei) Underground”

·        $5,000 to Dr. Stephen Krebsbach, Dakota State University, and Judy Vondruska, South Dakota State University
“Develop a Basic Interactive Website and a Virtual Laboratory Module That Would Allow Visitors at a Distance to Explore the SUSEL/DUSEL Facility”

·        $5,000 to Dr. Dana J. Medlin, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
“Development of Ultra-Pure Copper for the Underground Germanium Detectors”

·        $5,000 to Dr. Rajesh Sani, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
“Generating Preliminary Microbial Data on Homestake Gold Mine to Support NSF S4, S5, and Faculty Early Career Development Proposals”

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