SD Mines Physics Department

Congratulations, Michael!!

This award reflects what many of us in the Physics Department already know: countless student opportunities, activities, outreach events, and successful programs would not be possible without your dedication and hard work behind the scenes!

Your impact goes far beyond teaching physics. You have built a community, inspired generations of students, and helped many discover their passion for science. Your support, encouragement, and genuine care for students have made a lasting difference in the lives of so many people.

Thank you for everything you do for our department, our students, and our community. We are fortunate to have you!!!

Congratulations 🥳🥳🥳👏

Mines Physics Lecturer Earns National Recognition as Outstanding Chapter Advisor:

For years, Michael Dowding, senior lecturer in the physics department at South Dakota Mines, has inspired and mentored countless students both inside and outside the classroom. Now, that dedication has earned him national recognition from the Society of Physics Students.

Dowding has received the 2026 Outstanding SPS Chapter Advisor Award, the organization's most prestigious award. He was also a finalist for the award in 2019.

SPS is a professional association designed specifically for students and their advisers, helping students become contributing members of the professional community. Membership in the collegiate chapters is open to anyone interested in the physical sciences. Aside from physics majors, the Mines chapter includes students in a variety of other majors, including astronomy, chemistry, computer science and engineering.

“Having had the pleasure of advising SPS chapters, I can truly say I am impressed by the depth and personal nature of the comments in your support letters,” said Earl Blodgett, Ph.D., the interim director for SPS and Sigma Pi Sigma.

According to his nomination, Dowding represents the best of what advising can achieve. “Through sustained commitment, thoughtful mentorship, and a genuine passion for student development, Mr. Dowding has created an SPS chapter that not only enriches the undergraduate experience but also helps shape the next generation of the workforce,” his nomination said.

The nominators also added, “Through his unwavering logistical and financial support, his dedication to our professional development, and his genuine care for our community, he empowers us to grow not just as physics students but as future leaders in the scientific community.”

Dowding began serving as the university’s SPS advisor in 2013, helping to create a recognized chapter at Mines. With the department’s growth, physics majors wanted an official chapter to better participate in and network with other physics students and organizations around the world.

He is humbled and honored by the recognition, adding that it is as much an honor for the students. “There are generations of student members from our campus chapter that have been building an organization from the ground up to one that now receives national recognition for their efforts,” Dowding said.

Read the full story here: www.sdsmt.edu/news/releases/DowdingnamedSPSoutstandingadvisor.html

Join us tonight!!!

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As the old saying goes, Looks can be deceiving.

Did you know Neutrinos can oscillate between their flavor states?
Join us as we oscillate between flavors of Ice Cream made with Liquid Nitrogen.
Ice Cream is FREE to attendees of the evening event: Frontiers of Physics: A Global Experiment Beneath South Dakota.

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From the Black Hills to the Frontiers of Physics: A Global Experiment Beneath South Dakota

Deep beneath the Black Hills, in the former Homestake gold mine in Lead, South Dakota, a remarkable transformation is underway. At the Sanford Underground Research Facility, scientists and engineers are building one of the most ambitious physics experiments ever conceived: the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE).

Hosted by Fermilab in Illinois, where a powerful particle beam begins its 1,300 km journey through the Earth, DUNE will allow physicists to study the elusive particles called neutrinos: tiny, nearly-massless particles that are all around us. By studying them, scientists hope to understand why the universe is made of matter, and ultimately, why we are here at all.

DUNE brings together more than 1,500 scientists from 220+ institutions across 38 countries, in a shared effort to build a clearer picture of how the universe works. Discover the scale of this international collaboration and how this experiment is tackling some of the biggest questions about the universe. Join us for an evening of science, stories, and liquid-nitrogen ice cream.

Dr Kate Shaw is an Associate Professor in particle physics at the University of Sussex and at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP). She works on major international experiments including the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment in the United States and the ATLAS experiment at CERN.

Her research focuses on the fundamental nature of matter and the forces that shape the universe. Alongside her research, she is deeply involved in making physics accessible utilising open data and tools. She is a strong advocate for inclusion and diversity in science, and for strengthening global scientific capacity. Her contributions to research, communication, and outreach have been recognised with international honours including the Royal Society Research Culture Award and the European Physical Society (EPS) Outreach Award.

Don't miss it 😎☺️

It's awards season! Here are the many awards received by our students this year.

Amazing news!! 🥳😎👏

DUNE collaborators advance breakthrough power-over-fiber technology Researchers at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, working as part of the international Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment collaboration, are perfecting an innovative power-over-fiber system to enable photon detectors to operate reliably in cryogenic, high-voltage conditions.

Amazing News!!! 🥳

Dr. Juergen Reichenbacher and graduate student Tyler Rath from SD Mines are the first DUNE physicists
who were allowed to do work in the DUNE caverns at Sanford Lab (start to measure the radiological cavern backgrounds).

Amazing news!!

Dr. Frank Strieder will be giving a talk as part of the John Bahcall Colloquium on April 8th!

Dr. Frank Strieder is an Associate Professor of Physics at South Dakota Mines whose research focuses on nuclear processes in stellar evolution and the origin of the chemical elements. A principal investigator for CASPAR, he has been active at SURF since 2015 and brings 30 years of experience working in underground laboratories around the world.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn about key questions in astrophysics and nuclear science! 🙂😎

https://institute.surf/sites/default/files/2026-03/Upcoming%20Talks%20Flyers.pdf

https://institute.surf/jbc

The John Bahcall Colloquium | The Institute for Underground Science at Surf The John Bahcall Colloquium Formerly the Deeper Talks series—in honor of Dr. John Bahcall. Register here The John Bahcall Colloquium is a monthly scientific colloquium hosted by The Institute for Underground Science at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF), bringing together researchers...

Amazing news!!!🥳😎

https://www.sdsmt.edu/news/releases/microboonemeasurement.html