Gil Gilchriese: The world is coming to SURF, don’t mess up

The write-up for the 2024 Lifetime Achievement award that Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) presented to Gil Gilchriese begins with this statement: 

“It would be difficult to identify an individual who has made greater, or more wide-ranging, contributions to the High Energy Physics community than Murdock (Gil) Gilchriese.”  

Berkeley Lab’s tribute goes on to highlight the monumental career Gilchriese achieved, starting in the 1980s on the proposed Superconducting Supercollider in Texas where he served as director of research, to leadership roles on the ATLAS experiment inside the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, to a leading role in planning the Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory—which later became the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), to top positions in both the LUX and LUX-ZEPLIN dark matter experiments at SURF, and much more. For the last four years, Gilchriese chaired the SURF Strategic Advisory Committee, a role he is stepping down from in retirement.   

“I'm not sure in the time that I've been here, I've met anyone who I respect more than Gil,” said Mike Headley, the executive director of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority and the laboratory director at SURF.  

Headley notes that Gilchriese needs to be listed among the visionaries who made America’s Underground Lab possible, namely U.S. Senator Mike Rounds, LBNL physicist Kevin Lesko, and philanthropist T. Denny Sanford. 

“Gil has been a leading figure in the physics community for decades,” Headley said. “He is technically brilliant, he’s a fantastic person to review planned underground experiments because he knows the details and he can see issues that need to be addressed. Gil is a strategic thinker, who understands the big challenges for an organization. He has a unique ability to see three or four or five steps ahead of what needs to be accomplished to progress to the next level. On top of all this, Gil is a tremendously kind and giving person who is a joy to work alongside.”

On top of the rare skillset of combining technical expertise and strategic thinking, Gilchriese also exhibits a unique ability to find joy in difficult tasks. His work as the project director of the LZ experiment is no exception. 

“These projects, no matter what they are, are always hard. There are always problems, even if you're very smart and very prepared. But the technical problems can be kind of fun challenges to overcome,” Gilchriese said. “I've had lots of different experiences on projects, but working on LZ was certainly equal to the most fun I've had. It was very satisfying.”

Gilchriese points out that it took decades of hard work to overcome the scientific and engineering challenges in the proposed Superconducting Supercollider and that this work laid part of the foundation for what later became the Large Hadron Collider at CERN. He says there is a lesson here for those proposing very large high-energy physics experiments in the future, including the proposed muon collider that is still in the planning phase.  

“The muon collider is full of really hard challenges,” Gilchriese said. “Figuring out how to actually build the accelerator is monumental in itself. In reality, there's no quick fix. There's none, zero. They're just going to have to figure out how to make it work and realize it's going to take decades to accomplish.”

This holds true with much of the work at SURF, including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). Gilchriese champions the incredible progress made in the past two decades at America’s Underground Lab. 

“The completion of the excavation of the DUNE caverns is just a monumental achievement, particularly with the excellent safety record,” he said.

Both SURF and Thyssen Mining, the Fermilab contractor that led the DUNE excavation, surpassed one million hours of work without a lost time injury during the DUNE excavation. Gilchriese says this level of safety needs to be maintained throughout the duration, and that won’t necessarily be easy.

“People don't quite get how challenging the work at SURF is,” he said. “You look at what it takes to construct bridges, or buildings, or roads and yeah, they're very challenging. But there's a lot of them and the construction methods are well established. DUNE is one-of-a-kind in the entire world, and it’s a mile underground, that brings real challenges.”

Gilchriese says overcoming these challenges requires a high-level of mindfulness and care from each and everyone involved in the project.

“At SURF there is a recognition that failure in simple things is not an option,” Gilchriese said. “If you screw up on even a small aspect of safety, you could shut the project down for a year, and you are in deep trouble. So, there's sort of this level of awareness that what you're doing is extremely unique. Even though you may think you have a tiny little role in it, your mistake could bring an international operation to a halt.”

The international scientific collaborations at SURF will also continue to increase the number of people who come to Lead from around the world. Gilchriese says there is an additional challenge in making sure everyone feels welcome and has the amenities they need. 

“It's going to be a phase change,” he said. “Because all these people from all over the planet will descend on Lead. Ten years from now, people will say, ‘hey, that was fun,’ but it might be a little turbulent on the way.”

Gilchriese says SURF and Fermilab can play leading roles in the community to pave the way for the steady influx of newcomers. He adds that the growing pains will be worth it. The changes underway in Lead, tied to the original vision for an underground lab in the Black Hills, provide a rare and unique opportunity for a laboratory to help build a community.

“You have to go back to World War II, when Los Alamos or Oak Ridge or Hanford were formed, to really understand how transformative a laboratory like this can be,” he says. “I’m not sure people quite appreciate how SURF is going to be there, in one way or another, for decades and decades. It’s not only going to shape the Black Hills, but South Dakota as a whole.”

The longevity of SURF in South Dakota means the children in grade school today, could be the employees working at the facility in the years to come. Gilchriese gives praise to the effort to inspire future generations.

“SURF has this just incredible, outstanding, beautiful, outreach and education program for kids. It's as good as I've seen anywhere,” he said. “Yes, the number of physicists that you're going to create from education programs is a tiny, tiny fraction of the population. But if you don't create those people, you're, set up for failure—not just as a laboratory—but as a state and nation. Without those scientists, you can't expect to compete with other states, or other countries, that are inspiring their own young people in STEM.”

For Gilchriese, the success SURF has enjoyed so far needs to be credited to leadership both at the facility and across the state.

“I need to stress, the leadership at SURF is really, really good. It’s Mike Headley, and others, and the Board of Directors, the state lawmakers, the governor, and the congressional leaders. It seems to work so well, that it would be nice if everything in particle physics were built in South Dakota,” Gilchriese says with a smile. “I think people in South Dakota should feel pride and a real sense of accomplishment in not only what's happened, but in the people of the state whose leadership can carry this forward into the future.”

In stepping down from his own leadership role at SURF, there is no question that Gil Gilchriese will be missed by all those who worked with him.

“I really enjoyed working there at SURF,” he said. “Yes, there were a few instances that were not so pleasant—sliding down Mill Street in a four-wheel drive vehicle during a blizzard—that wasn't so much fun. But, you know, in the end it makes a good story, so it turns out to be fun.”

The ability to turn unpleasant experiences into fond memories is arguably among the most valuable lessons Gilchriese leaves. The future scientific, engineering, and technical challenges at America’s Underground Lab will undoubtedly require the unique ability to find joy in the accomplishment of difficult work.