SURF helps shift South Dakota brain-drain into reverse
For decades, many of South Dakota’s best and brightest students left the state for higher-paying jobs elsewhere. Today, SURF is helping to reverse this trend—and the prospects for new graduates continue to grow.
Twenty years ago, visionary leaders who established the Sanford Underground Research Facility sought to sustain the regional economy after the closure of Homestake, North America’s deepest gold mine.
State leaders, including then-Governor Mike Rounds, joined forces with advocates in the science community, including Kevin Lesko a physicist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, to lobby the state legislature for the creation of the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority (SDSTA). After its establishment in 2004, SDSTA became the owner and operator of SURF. Part of the argument for creating an underground laboratory in a former gold mine was to develop new ways to stem the state’s brain drain.
Today, this vision for America’s Underground Lab has come true, and this is evident in the SURF employees who advance world-class science, operate the facility, and inspire learning each day.
The following four examples represent just a handful of the SURF employees who grew up in South Dakota, attended in-state universities or technical schools, and are now part of the team at America’s Underground Lab.
Like all those who work at SURF, these individuals are talented enough to work anywhere in the world. They chose the Black Hills because of the opportunities provided by SURF.
Dr. Douglas Tiedt
- Dr. Douglas Tiedt grew up in Box Elder and became the first person to earn a Ph.D. in physics with an experimental-focused dissertation from the South Dakota Mines. He joined SURF as a research scientist in 2020, and today he works closely with all experiments at SURF specializing in the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment and the Black Hills State Underground Campus.
Nicol Reiner
- Nicol Reiner grew up in Sioux Falls and earned her bachelor’s degree from South Dakota State University, studying education, German, and mathematics before completing her master’s degree from the University of Sioux Falls in Educational Leadership. She spent 30 years in education and came to SURF in 2020. Today, she leads the education team at SURF, inspiring learning across generations and supporting STEM educators.
Kyle Jankord
Kyle Jankord grew up in Belle Fourche and completed a degree in Computer-Aided Design (CAD) at Western Dakota Technical College in Rapid City. For the past seven years, he has worked at SURF as a CAD technician. His work is critical to the success of the engineering team at SURF, which helps maintain infrastructure and advance improvement projects in the complex above- and below-ground areas of SURF.
Brooke Anderson
- Brooke Anderson grew up in Lead-Deadwood, graduated from Black Hills State University, and started at SURF in 2013. Today, she is the operations and integrations supervisor at SURF. Her work helps keep track of the vast infrastructure needs at SURF, which includes the 370 miles of underground tunnels and 230 surface acres that make up America’s Underground Lab.
Jobs like these have a direct economic impact on South Dakota
SURF employs more than 200 people. Partners like Fermilab and associated contractors employ another 200 in Lead. Work at SURF also supports hundreds of businesses statewide, adding 1200 jobs in the state this decade.
“One of the reasons we are all passionate about this work at SURF is the bright future we are creating for our kids who might want to live in South Dakota someday,” said Mike Headley, the executive director of the SDSTA and laboratory director at SURF. Headley grew up in Brookings, graduated from South Dakota State University, and joined SURF in 2007.
The newly created South Dakota Science and Technology Plan lays out the value a high-tech economy can bring to the state. SURF is currently delivering a 17-to-1 return on state investment, underscoring the real value high-tech economic development can bring to the regional economy.
SURF isn’t just employing South Dakotans today; it’s building the workforce of tomorrow. In 2025, the SURF education team reached more than 22,000 students across the state with hands-on STEM learning activities that inspire the next generation. SURF also remains connected to higher-education in South Dakota, tying the research and instruction happening at universities and institutions across the state with the science and engineering underway at America’s Underground Lab.
Looking ahead, SURF’s workforce and economic impact are expected to grow even further as construction continues on the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). The international flagship physics project, run by the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory, includes massive detectors nearly a mile underground at SURF. DUNE is one of more than 30 experiments at SURF, all of which require long-term scientific staffing and a sustained pipeline of skilled technical workers in the Northern Black Hills.
“We’re proud to play a role in keeping some of the best and brightest South Dakotans right here in our state, and we’re also excited about the opportunities we are creating for the graduates of tomorrow,” Headley said.
